Down Into My Shadow
by Melon Fox Jozei
Summary: [PL-2] In Death Weapon Meister Academy, forming strong partnerships is part and parcel of the work. But how do you do what is expected, when you're a weapon that no one wants to weild? Should you give up? Or follow a path of your own? Rated M KidXOC
1. My Soul, Your Beats!

**[AUTHORS NOTES]** Hey everyone, it's Josaphina here! How're you all going? Hope you all have been keeping well. As you all have probably noticed – I've uploaded another story, lol. For all you Death The Kid fans, I hope you enjoy, and for all of those that are currently reading my other two stories, and waiting for more chapters, fear not! I've got more chapters coming up soon, and I wil be continuing all three at the same time (I hope, lol) They're not being abandoned, they're just getting their updates differently, lol. I've been having mental blanks of late, and had just finished watching Soul Eater (Me: HELL YEAH!). And for all of you wonderful people out there who do nothing but write and write, and write even more, you can understand that I couldn't restrain myself, and I began to type away.

Here's the first chapter, I'm throwing this up as a tester at the moment, to see how it goes, and how my writing style fares in something with a lot more difference that Yu Yu Hakusho and Bleach. I absolutely adore Death The Kid, and just like normal, I like to make my characters that little bit different. So please, if you have the time, then please review, I really would like to know what most people think of this writing piece. It won't be as long as THE FEAR OF BLOOD, I know that immediately. I'm looking at around Fourty, maybe fifty chapters at most for this story. In any case, that's enough for me, I hope you all enjoy, and feel free to message. I will have more chapters for THE FEAR OF BLOOD when my laptops keyboard is replaced (Seriously, having the Space, A S H and P keys suddenly die on you really, really, REALLY ends up making you irritable and not want to do any typing for a very long time … it'll be about two weeks before I get the new keyboard to replace it T_T)

_**CHAPTER ONE: My Soul, Your Beats!**_

The air was filled with a bright array of energies as the wind gently swept across the lands, lifting the tiniest of sand from the many sand dunes that stretched across the lands. The sky was a bright blue against a yellow setting of desert surroundings, and the sun that was up in the sky above was laughing with that strange voice of its, a broad grin across it's face, while it's counterpart, the moon, remained in the sky, asleep and looking quite weak. The clouds in the sky were few and quite far away from each other, hinting at the tiniest signs of moisture in the air. For while there were clouds, the possibility of rain was about.

A city in the middle of the desert was alight with life – there were people wandering around on their way to their destinations, and the city was alive with chatter. For a city in the middle of a desert, there was more surprises to be held – a strange building resembling some kind of abstract skull castle with candles out the sides of the buildings stood at the tallest point of the city, and many people scaled the stairs up towards the strange castle. For the most part, the people in the city seemed most intent on entering the strange castle, and not in the least bit uncomfortable with it.

Among the many traveling up towards the strange castle, a young woman walked, her eyes upon the pages of the book, without a glace in the direction she was heading. The sunlight reflected off her peach coloured hair, which was held back loosely in a bun at the back of her head. Her glasses hid the colour from her eyes as she moved, tinted a light blue against her pale skin. Wearing a magenta tanktop and a denim skirt, the pale skin of her shoulders and back could be seen, however a black tanktop beneath the magenta hid more of her back from view. Magenta converse shoes covered her feet, and as she picked up the pace, she almost slipped on one of the steps. The sounds of music came from a pair of large headphones hanging from around her neck, a medium purple in colour, and the cord continued down into the front pocket of her over the shoulder bag, coincidentally a pale pink colour. It wasn't so much that she loved pink and magenta colours – it was more of a case that she hadn't had a chance to go and buy something else – her other outfits had all worn out on her, and they weren't in any descent condition.

"Hurry up! Or we're going to be late!" Came the shouting voice of a young woman from behind, causing the young woman with the book to come to a halt, looking down at her silver watch on her right wrist. She raised an eyebrow after a moment as she read the time – it was just a little before seven, there was ten minutes to go before everyone had to be inside. The young woman looked up at two people as they ran past – a young woman with sandy green hair and green eyes, was in a skirt, white shirt with a sleeveless yellow jumper, and a young man with whtie hair and red eyes, with a black jacket and pants. The young woman looked back, a look of confusion across her face. "Serah? What're you doing? You're going to be late if you stand there like that!" Serah smiled slightly to herself, lowering her arm with the watch as she went back to reading – it was too late to catch their attention anyway, they were long gone.

The top of the stairs was speckled with the odd person here and there, most of them the same age as Serah – around Seventeen, some even younger. Serah couldn't help but smile as she used her pinkie finger as a bookmark, and closed the book over her finger, beginning to pick up the pace and walk onwards to her destination. The huge building was known as the Death Weapon Meister Academy, or DWMA for short, was a school for people who held the abilities to become weapons, and those with the ability to weild such weapons, known as Meisters. For the most part, the school was a fun place of learning, and the teachers were quite the colourful bunch. Walking hallway to halway, Serah soon came to a door on one of the top floors. She shifted the strap of the shoulderbag hanging from her right shoulder, and she entered the room once she had ascertained that this was the one she was looking for. That young woman and man that ran past her were here, both slumped in chairs to the far left. The room was arranged much like a lecture hall universities had.

The young woman, who smiled over sheepishly looked a little embarrassed – obviously she had just realised they were running on time, and didn't need to run. The young man was slumped back in his chair, groaning something about being dragged across the whole city and ending up early was totally not cool. Letting out a sheepish smile herself, Serah began to climb the stairs that lead to the middle row in the wall of seats and desks. She took her seat in front of the young woman, placing her book down on the bench in front of her carefully as she opened it onto the page she was up to, turning to face her with a smile.

"Realised you were on time, did you?" Serah asked, smiling as the young woman giggled in an embarrased manner.

"Yeah, I forgot I set my clock fast, again." She spoke, and Serah smiled a little more as she removed her bag and placed it at her feet carefully. "So how are you today, Serah? Had any luck in finding yourself a Meister?" Serah smiled slightly as the young woman looked hopeful.

"I'm okay, and the Meister front has come up with Zero, once again." Serah began, carefully removing the glasses from her face as she heard more people beginning to enter the room. "Unless you want to be my Meister, Maka, I don't think there's going to be anyone with enough stomach to weild a book." The young woman, Maka, blinked as a look of confused shock crept across her face.

"Wait … You're a book?" She asked, and Serah couldn't help but laugh at the look across Maka's face.

"Of course not! But seriously, I swear everyone thinks cause I read so much, I must be an encyclopaedia or something." Serah saw Maka smile slightly, before she placed her chin upon her hand.

"Yeah … " Maka spoke, seeming to be drifting off into thought as she stared at the door. "I really hope a Meister walks through that door sooner or later – you've been on your own for about six months, haven't you?"

"Yep. For as long as I've been here." Serah agreed, and she smiled as she saw someone take the seat next to her from the corner of her right eye. Reaching out for the glasses again, Serah took a glance at who had taken the seat next to her – and directly below the young man, who Serah knew was called Soul. He was a young man of about Seventeen years, with golden eyes and a pale complexion. He had short, black hair with three, white horizontal lines around the left side of his head – which was coincidentally the side she could see. He wore a suit of black with a white shirt, and a cartoonised skull where the tie would be. There were white squares along the shoulders and the front of his suit top, and he wore a pair of dress shoes. The young man was called Death The Kid, for some reason. Serah had once wondered about why he had been given such a name, but it didn't matter all that much. Everyone took to calling him Kid, so it was a normality now.

Slipping on the glasses carefully, Serah took to picking up her book carefully to begin reading. She could hear Maka beginning to speak with a young woman by the name of Tsubaki, and as she glanced at Kid, she caught him looking down at her with a mild frown. She hesitated, placing her gaze back upon her book as she felt his gaze continue to bore into her. What was wrong now? If it wasn't that her music was up too loud, it was that she looked disgusting – if you translate the rants that he would go on into understandable english. While she didn't exactly mind Kid, he didn't do anything to make her like him, especially when he was in an irritable mood. In actuality, now that Serah thought about it, she didn't speak with Kid, or his two weapon partners if she could help it, she didn't speak with Soul, and the young woman called Tsubaki's partner, who was called Black Star. She didn't speak with anyone really, asside from Maka, and occasionally Soul, if the situation demanded it. Maybe it wasn't so much that she was a bookworm that put Meisters off, maybe it was her neglect to actually go out and talk with people?

Serah slowly looked up at the blackboard, her mind beginning to drift off into thought. She had been in the DWMA for six months, and no one seemed to give her any weird looks for being a Weapon with no Meister – for some strange reason, they didn't care, like there were better things to worry about than a Weapon that couldn't be used. She joined the DWMA when that Kishin had been defeated, because she wanted to make a difference, to use that freakish ability everyone at home feared. But her assumptions had been completely wrong – being in the same class as those that defeated that Kishin was proof enough – where two had no problem with her, two had no real idea she even existed, and the others seemed to either dislike her or not care either which way. It put a dampener on her spirits.

"Everyone, take your seats, class will begin shortly." Came the sounds of a voice belonging to a man much older than most of the people in the class. Serah looked up from her book after a few moments, looking over at the blackboard again as the hints of a man clad in a white doctors coat rolled around the room, sitting backwards on a kind of wheeled computer chair. The usual teacher for this class, Serah noted with the tiniest hints of interest. No, she wasn't that interested in who taught what, it was just the fact that someone was teaching something, and even though she wasn't that fond of the constant disections of various animals that this teacher – Stein – seemed to constantly feel to have the class do, she still found what he taught that was not disections interesting. "Oh, and Serah." Came Steins voice, causing Serah to blink in shock. She placed her attention back upon Stein, feeling that someone was still frowning down at her for some reason she couldn't seem to comprehend. She saw Stein fix her with one of those looks that had her shift in her seat nervously. "You're wanted in the Death Room, don't keep Lord Death waiting."

"Yes, sir." Serah spoke, putting her book in her bag quickly as she began to gather herself together.

"Ooh, I hope he's got a Meister waiting to meet you!" Maka spoke, and indeed, her voice was laced with hope that Serah couldn't seem to muster herself – she had the sneaky feeling that it was for something else all together.

"Maybe." Serah spoke, standing up carefully, and with a kind of salute with two fingers to Maka, she began to step past the irritated looking Kid carefully. She had just managed to squeeze past enough to have a step secured past him, when all of a sudden, the chair in front of her suddenly pulled out, and the young girl in the chair stretched so suddenly that she was knocked off her centre of balance. Stumbling backwards a pace, she accidentally bumped into the irritated Kid, earning a look of shock. "S-Sorry!" Serah spoke, her nerves taking over as she squeezed past the young woman called Patty, ignoring the weight of her bag knocking against the back of her legs as she jogged out of the class room, ignoring the incredulous looks from more than just Kid.

Letting an irritated breath out slowly through her nose, Serah made her way down hallway after hallway, once again beginning to navigate her way through to a room on the other side of the academy. Feeling more than a little embarrased, Serah had to try her hardest not to let that strangled growl escape her – oh _why _did Patty have to suddenly push her chair out and stretch like that when she was trying to get past?

Arriving at the door that Serah had to enter through, she hesitated before she lifted a hand to the doorhandle carefully. She always hesitated here – even though she was summoned, should she just open the door any walk in? Or should she knock first, and wait for a response. The second seemed silly, for the room inside was so huge, that a feeble little knock couldn't possibly be heard from the very middle, now, could it? She decided to go with the first, and hesitantly, she pulled the doorhandle down carefully. There was no lock activated, like she had expected, the door opened with very little effort at all, and almost seemed to open itself, despite her grip on the doorhandle remaining. The room inside was very different, a huge yellow expanse for the ground, and the walls and ceiling were a sky blue, with cartoonised clouds moving along the walls. Many black crosses stood at strange angles, all arranged aroung the room stabbed into the ground for some reason. This was not the strangest part of the room, however, the path ahead, which was clearly the way to go, was lined with arches through to a raised area in the middle, but were guillotines rather than normal archway decorations. The blades of the guillotines even looked sharp.

Taking a breath carefully, Serah began to make her way through to the middle of the room, where a huge mirror stood, along with two forms that were actually quite familiar to Serah. Her bag knocked against her knees as she walked, however she was that used to it, that it didn't even seem noticeable to her. Perhaps an effect of the summons, either which way, it wasn't that important to her at that moment.

"Hiya!" Came the tones of a humerous voice as Serah reached the middle of the strange room, and the bouncing of a black silhouette came to Serah's notice. "I'm glad you came so quickly, thanks for coming!" The silhouette was wearing a white mask, in the same design as the skull on Kid's shirt and his rings.

"Hello, Lord Death." Serah spoke quietly, shifting the strap of her over the shoulder bag carefully as she straightened up, the glasses upon her nose beginning to slip slightly, however she ignored it – at least for the time being. Of course Kid and Lord Death had the same design of skulls – Lord Death was Kid's father, and because of this, Kid was already very skilled at being a Meister. And that made it Kid to inherret the academy when Lord Death decided to retire, whenever that unforseeable future occurred in any case. Serah looked at the second form after a moment, to see a man in a untidy suit. He had red hair and green eyes, and stood to be quite tall, despite his slouched posture. The look in his eyes were the same as Maka's, and it wasn't too hard for Serah to pick who this man was. Serah inclined her head forward to the man, and he seemed to smile slightly.

"So how've you been? Are you enjoying class?" Lord Death asked, eager and energetic, his voice always sounded like some kind of energetic old man who loved to spend time with kids – well, he would have to be something like that, surely, afterall, he was the founder of the DWMA, surely he had a fondness for children.

"It's not too bad. A little too much bookwork though." Serah admitted, a smile across her face – although she did feel uncomfortable – she couldn't seem to figure out why Lord Death had asked her to come to the Death Room all of a sudden.

"Is that so?" Lord Death said, and he looked at the man who Serah had assumed was Maka's father, Spirit, who happened to be a deathscythe – a high powered weapon. "Well, given the circumstances, I can understand that." Serah remained silent as Lord Death looked back at her. "Actually, that was the reason I've asked you here, Serah. I wanted to know how you were doing in class, given that you don't have a Meister of your own."

"Well, I learn as much as I can." Serah spoke, and she saw Lord Death lift his arms from his sides – where two huge, white hands that looked like they were carved from foam more than anything else suddenly appeared, like they had been shrunken the whole time.

"It's unfortunate that no Meister has stepped forward to partner with you, however, I have come to the belief that it's the case of what weapon you are, rather than the fact that you're flexible with other souls." Lord Death spoke, and Serah inclined her head forward, gently pushing her glasses back up the bridge of her nose.

"What weapon would Serah be, Lord Death?" The man who Serah was now certain was called Spirit asked, and Serah blinked as Lord Death looked at the man himself. Serah couldn't really answer that question – she never really knew what she was either, just a two part ringed blade, or something like that – she knew what she looked like, but that was it.

"Serah's weapon form is a set of Circlets." Lord Death answered, an air of pride in his funny voice for some reason. With Lord Death's statement about why people might not be partnering with her, and that tone, it might be that she was an unusual weapon of sorts – the look across Spirit's face actually confirmed that, he looked a little surprsed at Lord Death's answer.

"Circlets?" Spirit repeated, and Serah smiled slightly. She'd have to remember what Lord Death had just said, it sounded right, and it would help when she'd explain it to someone.

"Yes, and I think that's why it been so difficult to find a prospective Mesiter for Serah. Most people don't know how to weild such a fragile weapon, let alone know what a Circlet is." Serah inclined her head forward again, taking in the information for future reference.

"I see. So that would also make it difficult for Serah in classes." Spirit spoke, and Serah blinked momentarily, confusion touching her pallid face. It wasn't _that _difficult in class.

"I've been thinking about this for a while, Serah, and I'd like to make the offer to you." Lord Death began, and Serah looked up at the bouncing Grim reaper with a tiny smile. Just the way this grim reaper bounced around like that with a funny voice made her smile all the more easily. "It will take a very long time to find a Meister suitable for you, but for the time being, I believe that it would be beneficial for you, if you took up the role of a Meister, and use a replica of your own weapon form, at least until we find someone for you." Serah blinked, confusion creeping in on her. "It means you'd be able to participate in practical assessments in class, and you'd be able to show how a set of circlets is supposed to be used – you never know, you might catch the attention of a new Meister."

"That's not a bad idea." Spirit spoke, looking back at Serah again with a kind of interested look across his face. Serah thought for a few moments on this, beginning to wonder about it. He was right, even if it was just a replica with no abilities or anything, it would get her in practical assessments, at least for the Meister side of things, and yeah, it would be cool if a new Meister watched her use a replica of herself and think 'wow, now that's something'. Looking back up at Lord Death, she couldn't help but smile at the thought of it. "Well, how about it?" Spirit asked, and Serah glanced at him momentarly, before placing her gaze back upon Lord Death.

"I'd love to." Serah answered, and she saw Lord Death begin to bounce energetically again.

"Excellent! Then I'll have you go and see Professor Stein after class!" Serah blinked, a nervous look crossing her face as she thought on that. Why would she have to see Stein? He was only ever really interested in experiments and all that, what reason would she have to go see him?

"But, why Professor Stein, Lord Death?" Serah asked curiously, and she saw Spirit seem to smile sheepishly – did he know something about Stein that would stop her from sleeping at night?

"Making a replica of your weapon form isn't just the metal that the weapon is made from. There are a great many elements of the soul that change the way that a weapon moves, how it works, and even how the weapon will look." Lord Death explained, his huge white hands clasped in front of him. "To understand the makeup of a weapon, and to make a perfect replica, one has to be able to analyse the soul. It's a bit more complicated than that, but that's the general idea behind it." Serah nodded slowly, and she looked back up at Spirit, who was giving her a look of understanding. Oh why did it seem like Professor Stein was one that she didn't want to lose track of when he had his scalple set out?

"I'll take her to go see Stein." Spirit spoke, and Lord Death looked at him curiously.

"I don't see why not, but why?" Lord Death questioned, and Serah looked at Spirit hesitantly.

"Stein's a scary man to visit when he's not giving lessons. And I'm sure Serah hasn't been to his laboratory before." Spirit proceeded to explain, and Lord Death fixed him with a look of exasperated confusion.

"Okay ..." Lord death spoke, and Serah blinked in confusion. Asside from a replica of herself being made, the rest of the conversation, and even the whole morning, had been more than just a little confusing for her.


	2. Stamp

**[AUTHORS NOTES] **Here's chapter two of Down Into My Shadow, I hope you're all enjoying it! Anyway, here it is, hope you all enjoy, i'm bringing those other chapters online next time, cause this is a little three minute window I have where I'm at at the moment. Anyway, enjoy =)

_**CHAPTER TWO: Stamp**_

The oranging sunlight of the drowzy sun cast an orange wash over the whole of Death City, and as the winds began to pick up, the many students that attended Death Weapon Meister Academy began to make their idividual ways back home. For the whole of the city, nighttime was more or less a time of rest, than any of the other cities that Serah had ever been to. True, she had only ever been at Los Angeles, and California, but she knew enough to know that the cities elsewhere, were always more or less awake at night, and sleeping during the day. For the most part, it was simple, and even though it was simple, it was something that drained Serah immensly. Death City, where she slept when the city actually went to sleep, and arose when the city rose, it was a nice change – a positive change. She was tired of feeling like the freak of the city, and now that she was here, she was as normal as everyone else – and it felt good.

Serah lifted her shoulderbag carefully, being careful not to knock it around too much. Her visit to Steins laboratory was one that was uncomfortable, and she was actually glad that Spirit had decided to accompany her – if he didn't, she would have freaked out. Although all that Spirit went on about was the horrors that Stein had unveiled on him, and how much he absolutely adored Maka. For the life of her, she had never known any father to be this … strange. He even went so far as to talk about the unfortunate relationship between himself and Maka's mother. Suffice to say, she did understand, at least a little bit, why Maka didn't like to have all that much to do with him.

Leaving Stein's laboratory had her feeling a little shaky, and a little out of her own body – the whole time she was there, she could feel a prodding at her very soul, and not only was it very, very unpleasant, it was unnerving. While he worked, turning that huge screw in his head while he did so, Serah had to deal with the prodding that just made her feel sick. Serah was glad to finally be gone when it was about time that everyone at the academy began to leave for home.

"Serah!" Came a familiar voice from up the top of the stairs, causing Serah to slow to a halt carefully. She pulled the headphones a bit further down her neck, looking around at who had called her. The familiar sight of Maka jogging down the stairs met Serah's gaze, and as she smiled, she noticed that Soul was following at a slower, and more laid-back pace – it really was obvious that Soul's driving factor was 'coolness'. "Hey! I was wondering where you got to! You never came back to class!" Serah smiled as Maka came to a halt a couple of steps up, and she crossed her arms loosly after a few moments.

"Lord Death had a job he wanted me to get done. Kinda took all day." Serah answered honestly, and she could see curiosity beginning to burn in Maka's gaze – Yep, of course. "Don't worry about it, it's not important."

"So it wasn't a meister..." Maka spoke, and Serah smiled even more, shaking her head slightly as a three familiar forms walked past, one clad in black, and the other two clad in blue and red. Serah glanced over at them, her gaze shifting to Kid as he seemed to move, a look of … discomfort written across his face? Serah didn't know what, but all she could see, was a look that screamed 'nervous breakdown'. She wondered why that was, but that answered why he didn't say bye to Maka or Soul – who had just come to a halt on the step behind Maka.

"That's totally not cool." Souls voice came over the silence that had descended Serah's consciousness, causing her to look over in shock. She could see that Soul was looking at someone behind her, but she didn't need to look to realise who he was looking at. "So what're we having for dinner? It's your turn to cook." Soul asked, looking down at Maka as she seemed to look at him over her shoulder. That did remind Serah – She'd have to pick something up on the way home – she wasn't looking forward to having instant Ramen again.

"I dunno. Maybe toasted sandwiches? There's not really anything in the cupboard," Maka spoke, and Serah blinked slightly. There was that whole stack of sandwich meat in the barfridge – she wouldn't be able to finish it, maybe Soul and Maka would want it?

"I've got some sandwich meat at home, if you guys want it?" Serah began, lifting an arm and scratching the back of her head carefully as she glanced from Maka, to Soul, then back to Maka again. "I don't really eat that much meat, so it's kinda a waste to have it sitting in the fridge."

"Sure, if you don't want it." Maka spoke, a smile across her face as she began to walk down the stairs, Soul following a few moments later. Serah smiled fractionally, beginning to follow carefully as the sun closed it's eyes wearily. "Actually, now that I think of it, where do you live? I've never seen your house!" Maka spoke, and Serah blinked momentarily.

"Umm, it's kinda hard to describe." Serah commented, scratching the back of her head absent mindedly as she tried to think. In all the time that she had lived in Death City, she had never really paid attention to street names, or anything else of the like. For the most part, she just kept to memorising the directions places she went to were, like where the book stores were, and where the cafe's were, and you couldn't miss the academy – it was uphill, and you could see it from nearly any part in the city. "Kinda not that far from the bookstore next to the coffee place. Some guy keeps on shouting out the Coffee Ramba every morning tea."

"Really?" Soul said, and Serah blinked in slight confusion. "That's in the same direction we're at. Who woulda guessed."

"Not me." Serah spoke sheepishly, looking around at the buildings as they walked. For the most part, Serah had just assued she just lived in a separate part of Death City to everyone else, not that it mattered all that much in the end, but just the thought that she could be a matter of a street away just seemed to be impossible to her, at least in hindsight.

"So what did Lord Death need you for, anyway? Since it wasn't about a Meister for you, then there had to be a reason for it." Maka began, and Serah smiled a little more in that sheepish manner.

"I already told you, it's not important!" Serah commented, and she saw Maka smile that little bit more.

"I know. But I can't really help but be curious about it." Maka reasoned, and Serah stretched slightly, placing her gaze upon the skies above. The orange was a beautiful tone against the normally blue sky, and she loved it. Serah contemplated answering, wondering whether she should or not – she still wasn't sure if it was real, or just some messed up dream.

"Well … Lord Death wants me to study, as a Meister." Serah answered after a few moments, glancing over at Maka cautiously. She saw Maka fix her with a look of confusion, not that Serah didn't expect it or anything.

"That's pretty rich." Soul piped up, glancing back at Serah over his shoulder. "It'd be pretty cool if you could weild yourself, but even I know that's pretty much impossible."

"Lord Death thinks I can do it, so I'll give it a try." Serah commented, a marginal smile crossing her face as she looked to the large statue to the right.

"Serah." Maka began, and Serah blinked as she came to a stop – just in time too, she nearly walked straight into Maka, who had turned slightly to look at her. "I've never asked, but what kind of weapon are you?"

"Yeah, come to think of it, I've never seen your weapon form, even during practical classes." Soul added, and Serah blinked, before she crossed her arms carefully. Should she answer? Or should she keep it quiet? Afterall, Serah knew she was going to be given the replica of herself tomorrow during class. Smiling that little bit more, Serah decided to keep quiet – it wasn't very often something was going her way, she wanted to roll with it for a little longer.

"You'll see tomorrow." Serah spoke, stepping around Soul and Maka to continue the way back home. That bag continued to knock against the back of her knees, but she could feel a weakness about her that was abnormal. Although Stein had warned her about out-of-the ordinary weakness and minor phases of lack of energy, she was still skeptical.

"That's totally _not _cool." Souls voice came, but there was a laugh to it – obviously Soul found her funny at that moment.

"Looks like we're waiting, whether we like it or not." Maka commented, and Serah smirked at the pleasure she felt from making them wait. No, she wasn't going to be transforming, but Serah had seen the blueprint that Stein had put together before she left – it looked practically identical, other than her weapon form wasn't such a pink colour – it was more of a golden colour, kinda like the light of a very, very early morning, where there was mist about still. Serah glanced over at the shop that strange guy always danced at, inwardly cringing at the thought – would he be dancing the rumba once again tomorrow?

"Well, here's out place." Came Maka's voice after what seemed like a few seconds later, causing Serah to blink, and come to a halt after a moment. She looked back over, to see Soul and Maka standing a few meters away, Soul beginning to head into one of the buildings on the right, waving slightly as he went. Serah studied it for a few moments, raising an eyebrow as Maka continued to smile – no more than two streets away. Wow … And Serah walked past here every day to get to the DWMA. How could she have not known all this time?

"Well, I'm this way." Serah commented, motioning to the area behind her with a slight motion of the head, before she turned to begin to walk. "You coming? I'm not waiting all night."

"Right, coming!" Maka spoke, and Serah smiled fractionally. Two streets ahead, turn right, then turn left, and you're practically there, Serah could hear the faint tones of her music from the headphones, giving a kind of bounce to her step – she just wanted to get home, grab something to eat, and have a long, hot bath, with her music playing nice and loudly for her to enjoy. A book while in the bath would be nice, but Serah had the knowledge that she'd likely fall asleep while reading, and the last thing she wanted was to drop the book into the bath water with her. "So what're you doing after class tomorrow?" Maka asked, keeping equal pace with Serah. Serah thought on that for a few moments, before she looked back at Maka, feeling a little strain in the back of her neck as she had to look up at Maka, at least a little.

"Not sure, just coming back here and veging, I suppose." Serah answered honestly, looking back ahead at the streets – her gaze fell upon a small little house with a yellow brickwork to it – nothing all that different to the others, except that the door was a light pine colour with strange patterns carved through it. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was thinking, since Lord Death wants you working as a Meister, we could have a bit of practice out in the forest." Maka spoke, and Serah glanced away from her momentarily – she was beginning to approach the door to the house now.

"I don't see why not." Serah spoke, hesitation in her voice as she grabbed a key from the front left pocket of her skirt. "But won't you wanna get some practice with Soul, instead? It's not like _you're _my meister or anything." Taking to unlocking the front door, Serah glanced back at Maka after a few moments.

"I'm dragging Soul with us." Maka said immediately, a matter-of-fact look across her face. "He's been getting lazy lately, and I'm getting sick of it." Serah smiled fractionally, pushing the door open after a few moments.

"Well, this's my place." Serah spoke, standing aside to let Maka inside. The look of the house inside was quite different to the outside – the walls were painted a warm light green, with a feature wall the colour of an earthen orange. A huge bookshelf stood against the feature wall, painted black and without a backboard so the orange showed through. Mountains of books and CD's were squeezed into the bookshelf, packed so tightly that nothing else could fit. A tiny couch sat against the wall opposite the bookshelf, and one door stood in the livingroom situated in the wall directly in front of the front door. Serah watched as Maka looked around the tiny living room, a look of surprise across the young woman's face – clearly Maka had expected something different.

"Wow." Maka commented, stepping inside carefully as Serah began to close the door behind her. "I didn't think your house would be so …"

"So _what_?" Serah asked simply, beginning to make her way to the door in front, and the sounds of footsteps began to follow her.

"Tidy." Maka answered after a moment, and Serah cast her a mild frown over her shoulder. "N-no, I didn't mean it like that! I just expected there to be giant piles of books everywhere!" Maka almost squeaked, and Serah shook her head slightly as she opened the door, to reveal a kitchen inside. The walls in this one were a medium earthen orange, with the countertops of the kitchen being a golden yellow, with two doors leading out of the room – one on the left, and one on the right. There was a bar fridge on the counter to the left, where Serah began to walk towards as Maka stepped into the kitchen.

"Is your house filled with piles of books?" Serah commented, opening the door of the barfridge as the footsteps came to a halt.

"Of course not." Maka commented immediately, and Serah smirked, deciding to leave it at that. Searching through the fridge, Serah carefully lifted the bags of ham and roast beef from the top shelf, placing them on the counter carefully as she began to give the fridge another look over. There was that cooked egg from last night – Serah wasn't that fond of egg, and she didn't really understand why she cooked it all up.

"Want cooked eggs too?" Serah asked, and she glanced over at Maka as there was a moment silence.

"Sure." Maka spoke, and Serah smirked slightly – Maka was staring at the loungeroom through the door. Retrieving the egg quickly, she shut the door and grabbed one of the large freezer bags from the top drawer of the kitchenette, beginning to put the items into the bag and sealing it off. Serah couldn't help but smile as she looked back at the distracted Maka, to see that she was still staring at the loungeroom.

"Having fun staring at my wall?" Serah asked, and just as she expected, Maka flinched – yep, she was in space-cadet mode. Maka turned around immediately, and Serah merely handed the bag to Maka, who took it with a smile.

"Thanks." She spoke, and Serah couldn't help but laugh.

"Now, I'm not kicking you out, but I'm pretty sure Soul's sitting at home waiting for food." Maka's face shifted from a smile, to a look of shock – space cadet had forgotten, it seemed.

"You're right, I gotta go!" Maka said immediately, turning and beginning to jog towards the front door. Serah watched, smirking as Maka came to a stop for no more than necessary to open the door. "See you in class!" She called, and before Serah could so much as reply, the door was shut with a slight bang, Serah couldn't help but smile at that, carefully lifting that bag from her shoulder and placing it down on the floor next to the counter – she'd sort it out after her shower. Her expression faded after a few moments, and as she stared at the door for a few moments, she swore under her breath.

"Forgot to grab dinner!" She growled, raising a hand and pressing it against her forehead. "God! How could I be so stupid!" Fuming quietly to herself, she began to trudge over to the door to her right. That long, hot bath was a must now, and she had to have it now, to wash that irritation from her knowledge – it wasn't going to do her any good sitting there and brewing over how she had let food slip from her mind when she said she was going to search it out on the way home.

"Seriously, as soon as there's a little energy in my life, I have to go and start forgetting the things that matter." She commented, closing the door behind her as she went.


	3. Ruby Shoes

**[AUTHORS NOTES]** Hey everyone! I'm back with another chapter up! I think I'm starting to get the hang of this story rotation again – I used to write five stories at the same time, cause I had a terrible attention span while I was in school, but now my attention is so good it's now horrible for multiple stories. Anyway, now that I'm working on it again, and I get my reading glasses today (Fingers crossed, YEAH!) so I should be able to write more happily – that's if work doesn't kill me first, lol.

Next chapter is being written next, and as I've been spamming the music from Soul Eater, this one is from the same single as Paper Moon, a good song for those that like the more punkish style in Japanese music. Please enjoy, and lemme know what you think of the writing – afterall, I can't improve if people don't tell me, lol. Oh, and thank you Eclipsewings and Nicole for the reviews, they mean a lot, and I should have more chapters for you all to enjoy soon – and I hope your questions are answered soon, Eclipse. Please Enjoy!

~Jozei

_**CHAPTER THREE: Ruby Shoes**_

The sunlight shone harshly against the sleepy eyes of the many people wandering the streets of Death City, and as usual, the sun was laughing, as if mocking those that were suffering beneath the rays of light it shone at everyone. Breaking into a kind of job, Serah glanced back as the door of her house locked behind. Unlike how she would normally leave for the academy with a book in her grip, and her glasses on, she was jogging all the way, no book, and most certainly no glasses at the moment. Her bag knocked against the back of her knees, making it a little difficult to move, however she made the effort to continue on. Dressed in a pair of black tights, a pair of pink mini shorts, and a white top with a floral design of a orance colour on the right side, she was set for the day. Her headphones were blaring away, like normal, and as she hoisted her bag a bit higher on her shoulder, she turned the little volume dial on the cord, turning the music up even higher. Her magenta converse were tied nice and tightly, so as to not trip her up again.

For the most part, it was her eagerness to get to class that had her running like that. But for the other part, she just got bored of being home with nothing to do, when she could get to the academy early, and get her replica, early – or so she hoped. Serah hoisted her shoulder bag up a little higher as she passed Maka and Soul's place, glancing up at the window as she went. It was way too early for anyone to really be on their way to the academy – waaaay to early – it had only just gone six thirty in the morning. Serah glanced at the stores on the way, wondering if she should grab a low-fat coffee or something on the way. Though she hated the low-fat stuff cause it tasted horrible, she was cautious of her weight enough to go to the effort of making sure she didn't gain fourty kilo's back onto her total.

"Serah!" Came the sounds of a familiar voice, calling her from behind, which caught her attention immediately. Slowing to a halt, Serah looked around to see Maka jogging to catch up, confusion written clean across her face.

"Hi Maka." Serah spoke, raising an eyebrow as Maka came to a stop just in front of her. "What's gotten you out here so early?"

"What's gotten _me?" _Maka spoke, an incredulous tone to her voice making Serah blink in confusion. "_You're _the one running off somewhere. What's going on?"

"I'm just excited to get to class today, that's all." Serah answered, glancing over at the academy momentarily – maybe they'd let her bring a coffee if she was inconspicuous about it?

"Why? What's going on?" Maka asked, her gaze shifting from Serah, to the academy behind her – Serah had to keep an eye on the time, she didn't want to be on time – she wanted to be somewhat early.

"I already told you, yesterday. Remember? You wouldn't shut up about it?" Serah commented, and it was in that moment that Maka seemed to remember, as her face lit up like a christmas tree.

"Oh, that's right, you're a Meister, like me now!" Maka spoke, and Serah merely nodded. "Right, sorry. I guess you want to head to class and see what's going on, cause there's no way you can weild yourself!"

"Unless I was a telekinetic dagger." Serah commented wryly, and Maka laughed at that.

"Right, well I'll see you in class." Maka commented, waving slightly before she jogged back to the house. Serah watched for a few moments, before she sprung back into movement, and began to jog towards the academy herself. Technically, Maka was right, but because of the way that the Replica was being made, it was quite litterally like she was going to be weilding herself.

Jogging up the last few steps towards the academy, Serah came to a slow halt as she spotted a very familiar being cloaked in black – Lord Death himself. He was standing there, with his huge white hands at his sides while he bounced on his feet, facing a few beings that resided within Serah's actual class. Serah could distinguish the forms of Patty, and Liz, the Thompson sisters, who were both wearing their blue and red outfits, like normal. The form of Death the Kid was standing before Lord Death, his hands in his pockets as he stared up at the Grim Reaper, a look of normal boredom across his face – what were they doing here so early in the morning? A glance at Serah's watch confirmed that it was no later than quarter to Seven.

"I'll see you at home, Kid!" Lord Death's bouncily energetic voice echoed loudly through the air, and Serah came to a halt as Liz looked over at her with a look of mild recognition. Serah blinked as she looked at Liz, wondering what the look she had was about – they were in class every day together, why would such a noticable look of recognition cross her face just because Serah came up the stairs? "Ah! What perfect timing! How's it gong, Serah?" Lord Death's voice echoed, glee echoing within the humerous tone the strange man spoke in. Serah blinked in shock, looking up at Lord Death, who was bouncing over – whether he looked happy to see her or not was never a factor – for the man never took his mask off, so no one knew what his face looked like – well, Death The Kid would know what he looked like, surely.

"Good morning, Lord Death." Serah spoke, looking up at the energetic cloaked man as he came to a bouncing halt a couple of meters away. Serah glanced at Death The Kid, Liz and Patty Thompson momentarily, to see that they were walking off into the academy building– although Liz did glance back momentarily.

"Did you come early to collect your weapon?" Lord Death asked, and Serah couldn't help but smile as she nodded slightly.

"I couldn't wait for class." Serah answered honestly, and she saw Lord Death bounce momentarily – was this a reaction close to a smile from Lord Death?

"Well, you're in luck!" Lord Death spoke, another energetic tone in his voice. "Professor Stein has just delivered the completed weapon to my Death Room! He worked on it all night, I'll have you know!" Serah blinked, unsure of whether she should be happy about that, or a little worried. Deciding to go with the first, she smiled a broad smile, unsure of whether or not it was suitable for the current situation.

"I'll have to thank him when I see him next." Serah replied.

"Most definitely!" Lord Death agreed, and Serah blinked as he hopped backwards a few paces. "Come on! You can have it now!"

"Thank you!" Serah spoke, energy filling her own voice as she began to follow the bouncing black-cloaked man into the Academy. He seemed to move slower than he really was, even through that bouncing motion, and Serah had to take to a quick-paced walk – but what with the energy and the strange way to the Death Room Lord Death was taking, she was too preoccupied to take too much notice – she was even grinning as she kept up with the strange man.

Two lefts, a right, three lefts, two rights and one more right after three straights, and Serah found that they had ended up in front of the door to the Death Room. The door opened effortlessly against Lord Death's hand, and as Serah glanced back over her shoulder at the way they'd gone, she felt a touch of confusion touch her as she saw a suddenly present Death Scythe, called Spirit. Blinking in shock, Serah turned on her heel, holding her hands together in front of her as she smiled at him.

"Good Morning, Sir." Serah spoke, a sincere smile in her voice. She saw Spirit smile slightly, his hands in his pockets as he walked.

"Morning, Serah. I trust you didn't have any nightmares." Spiti spoke, and his statement was more of a question. Serah continued to smile, recounting the events of the afternoon before. For all that Serah was beginning to dread from what Spirit hinted at, seeing Stein so he could get a replica made wasn't so bad, her imagination was just beginning to get the better of her.

"None at all!" Serah answered, looking over at the door as she realised Lord Death had gone and bounced inside already. Smiling that little bit more, she began to jog into the Death Room after Lord Death, and she could hear Spirit following at his slow, stroll. She blinked as she finally spotted Lord Death bouncing in the middle of the Death Room, feeling a little guilty as she picked up the pace to catch up. While she had gone and been polite and said hello to Maka's dad, she had gone and lost track of what she was doing, leaving Lord Death to wait for _her_. Even though in all honesty the strange man wouldn't be bothered by it, Serah felt at least a little guilty over it.

"Sorry Lord Death!" Serah spoke as she came to a jogging halt a couple of meters away from Lord Death, however she got no immediate response.

"No problem!" Lord Death spoke, his voice holding that same bouncing energy as he raised his hands from around his back, and his hands suddenly sprung back to full size, just like in those old cartoons where something got squished, and it elastically sprung back to normal proportions. He rummaged through his pocket somewhat, with such big hands remarkably, and Serah remained politely silent as she watched. After a few moments, he pulled out a little lavendar box, with white stripes down the left side of the broader side, and one long stripe down the length, the box reaching about the size of his forefinger, which remarkably wasn't so small as he handed it to Serah, as it was around one and a half feet by three feet and half a foot tall. Did he have hammerspace there or something? How could he keep such a box in his pocket? Serah inwardly cringed at her jargon statements, reminding herself that she should stop thinking such terms. "There's your weapon! Wanna have a look?" Lord Death asked, and Serah grinned broadly.

"Yes! Thank you Lord Death!" Serah spoke, lifting the lid of the box after a moment. Arranging herself so the box was sitting in the space of her left forearm, she tucked the lid under the same arm and looked down at the weapon inside.

Two evenly sized, white rings were inside, around fourty centimeters in circumference. The blades were two inches wide, with a centimeter thickness to the thickest part of the blade – the inner edge of the rings. There were places on the ring where the width of the blade was just one inch, and it was wrapped in a kind of magenta material somewhat resembling leather. From just next to these patches that were clearly handles, a small, delicate chain of wafer-thin rings made of the same white metal stretched out for around two meters, connecting the two rings together. Serah blinked as she readjusted her standing position, and the usually pure white sheen of a polished weapon was not what she saw – the sheen was a pink sheen, but the blade itself was pure white. Despite the fact that it wasn't exactly like her weapon form, a huge grin broke out across Serah's face, and she looked up at Lord Death.

"It's totally awesome! Thank you so much!" Serah spoke, and just like how the strange man's energy was reflected in his voice, her's was reflected the same way.

"My pleasure! Don't forget to thank Professor Stein! He was the one that polished it and everything else you see there!" Lord Death spoke, the way his words formed showed that he was clearly happy with her reaction.

"Wow, I see what you meant, Lord Death." Came Spirit's voice from behind, causing Serah to blink, and to look over her shoulder at the Death Scythe. "Despite the thickness of the blades, it really looks like it's going to break the moment it's not used properly."

"A Ringed Circlet is a weapon better suited for dancers and such. They are the more acrobatic suited weapons, and are actually able to be thrown around like a returning frizbee." Lord Death proceeded to explain, looking at Spirit as he did so. "Although this weapon isn't identical to Serah's weapon form – Stein decided to make it sturdier by broadening the blades, and leaving the intricate carvings out, since it's a mostly correct replica for Serah to work with in practice."

"Ah, I see." Spirit spoke, looking down at Serah after a moment. "You certainly do look happy with it."

"Of course!" Serah spoke immediately, and she carefully put the lid back on the box, lining up the stripes accordingly. "I can't wait to try them out!"

"Now Serah." Lord Death began, catching Serah's attention once again. "As you are a set of ringed circlets, you know how you should be weilded, but be careful." Serah blinked in shock, but remained politely silent. "Unlike my son's weapons, most people would have great difficulty in weilding a weapon so close to their own form, at least while learning. With a weapon like this, it will be very easy for you to injure yourself, especially with how clumbsy you are."

"Pardon?" Serah spoke, not quite comprehending what Lord Death was saying – she was stuck on that line of difficulty weilding a weapon for a weapon.

"Just be careful." Lord Death clarified, patting one huge white, appearingly foam hand on Serah's head gently. "Certainly we can reattach limbs, but I wouldn't want you to slice your hand off in the first ten minutes." Serah turned a shade paler, and she rearranged the box in her grip.

"I'll be careful." Serah spoke, and Lord Death lifted his hand from atop her head so suddenly that Serah was somewhat startled.

"Okay! You can have today's afternoon classes off, to practice with your new weapon!" Lord Death spoke, and Serah blinked once again – how quickly Lord Death switched topics was kind of hard to keep track of half the time. "You should probably get to class, Professor Stein should have called them in by now." Serah nodded, increacing her grip on the box as she did so.

"Yes, thank you so much!" Serah spoke, and he stepped to the right a few paces on her way out. "Bye Lord Death, Mister Death Scythe!" She called on her way out, and as she pushed the door open with one hand, her bag knocked dangerously hard against the back of her knees. So she had afternoon classes off, which meant that she just had to go to Stein's class, then stay for lunch – yep, that sounded about right.

Jogging through hallyway after hallway, Serah reached the door to the class, where, as Lord Death had spoken, everyone was in their seat, and Stein was seated backwards in his computer chair, taking attendance. Serah hesitated, before she lifted her right hand to the door, and knocked twice. A few of the student's looked over – including Maka and Soul – before Stein paused, and Serah let her arm go back to the box as Stein looked over at her.

"I'm sorry I'm late, -" Serah spoke, but she was a little surprised as Stein smiled one of those strange crooked smiles, and gave her no time to give an explanation.

"I know about it. Take your seat, we're about to start." He spoke, and his smile even extended to the tone of his voice, it seemed. Serah nodded silently, and began to make her way up to the row in front of Maka as Stein went back to taking attendance, moving onto names she knew only the sound of.

"Where were you?" Maka whispered as Serah carefully stepped past Death The Kid, causing Serah to glance at her momentarily. "Stein didn't bother calling your name and just said you were coming soon. What gives?" Serah smirked to herself, restraining the need to giggle as she looked at the box. Remaining silent, and placing a finger to her lips to tell Maka and whoever else was looking – who was Soul, and no one else really – to keep quiet. She lifted the lid of the box with one hand, and watching the expression on Maka's face change to one of complete awe. She placed the lid back down after several moments, and merely turned back to face the front as Stein cast her a look of 'I know you're happy about it, but we're in class'. Being obedient, Serah told herself that box wasn't being touched until the end of class, where Maka was undoubtedly going to drag her away with Soul to have lunch, and for the Circlets to be looked at properly.

"Alright class, we're starting with another disection. This time, we're poking around the insides of an Anaconda." Serah cringed, letting her forehead rest against the wood of the benches in front of her – She had forgotten that Stein was probably going to move onto snakes sooner or later … but an anaconda? Where the hell was he keeping the giant snake? Wait, did Stein have Hammerspace as well? Deciding to keep her forehead plastered against the wood of the bench, she closed her eyes, not noticing the gaze of the Grim Reaper sitting next to her, who was looking at the box in front of her with a mild frown, which, after a minute of staring, turned to a look of pure undiluted glee.


	4. September 1st

**[AUTHORS****NOTS]**Hey everyone! I'm so sorry for the lack of updates on everything – I've got no excuses, just that I've had a lot going on, what with a dead laptop, then a dead car. So yeah. Been lacking the motivation of late, but I'm trying to get back into it. In any case. I have a couple of chapters up for you all to enjoy. Let me know what you think of it, hey. I'd love to know how this one goes =)

~ Jozei

_**CHAPTER FOUR: September 1st**_

"Serah!" Came the suddenly energetic voice of the Meister behind as Serah let out a weary breath, placing her pen down on the open notebook in front of her. Stein was already cleaning away at his scalples, that post-disection grin he usually wore after a class like this was plastered across his face. Looking around at Maka after a moment, Serah cringed at the cramp that was causing hell in in the muscles of her left hand, however she didn't think much on it. "Coming with us for lunch? My treat today!" Serah blinked at the generosity, removing her glasses for a few moments with her right hand. Serah thought on that as she glanced at the front of the classroom.

The students in class began to file out of the room, some a little green – namely some of the girls, due to the class topic – there was a lot of blood at the desk in the front of class, for it seemed that Stein never brought in already dead animals – the poor snake was lying there all stitched back up with it's eyes wide open, thoroughly traumatised at what had just happened. At least Stein numbed it's body before he started disecting away. Serah at least hoped Stein would put it in a enclosure of peace and tranquility while it healed, and he would let it go – but the likelihood of it surviving the trauma of such an operation was very, very slim.

"Okay, but why?" Serah asked as she looked back at Maka, and she saw her smile – Soul stood up after a few moments, his arms crossed behind his head in that laid back pose he usually stood in – he really did have a kind of obsession for coolness, Serah noted. Supposibly there were others with other obsessions, Serah never noticed though – She only ever hung out with Maka, and through consequence, over the past week, she'd been getting to know Soul, too. He didn't seem as bad as she thought of before.

"In celebration for your starting as a Meister." Maka spoke immediately, and Serah smiled fractionally. "I thought it would be nice, since you can now go on missions, right?" Blinking, Serah tried to think on that – Missions usually required a weapon _and_a Meister, not just a weapon posing as a Meister.

"I don't think so. Maybe as an extra with another Weapon and Meister, but not on my own" Serah spoke honestly, and she glanced over at Stein again – he looked like he was settled to stay there for a while. Looking back at Maka, she smiled once again. "But that would be nice, thank you."

"Great, let's go!" Maka spoke, springing to her feet suddenly in glee, and she almost collected Soul. "-Oh, sorry Soul!"

"It's cool, don't worry." Soul spoke, and Serah smiled as she then began to gather her belongings once she had placed her glasses back where they usually sat on her face. Being shouted lunch? Now that made her day even better – litterally! She'd left her lunch money at home in her haste, and of course she was too fidgety to have made something before coming to class – nor did she have anything to cook with at home either.

"You coming, Serah?" Maka's voice came, catching Serah's attention immediately. She looked up, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose with a forefinger as she clipped her bag shut.

"Yeah, just give me a minute!" Serah spoke, lifting her bag to her shoulder before she picked up that box – if she dropped it, it would probably slice through her foot, and she'd have to get it sewn back on – she didn't like the idea of having her bones reattached and skin sewn back together. Stepping through the row of chairs, Serah looked up at Soul and Maka quickly. "Just gotta do something, won't be long!" She stepped ahead, jogging down the steps as she looked back at Stein, who was now packing away his scalple set, and the Anaconda looked like it was beginning to slowly recover. _Why_did Stein have to move onto dangerous animals to disect now? Serah could picture a grown lion cowering in fear from Stein.

"Professor Stein!" Serah spoke, coming to a halt in front of the desk – the Anaconda shot her a pleading look, which made Serah feel a little sick – she couldn't do anything to help it, no matter how much she wanted to. Stein lifted his gaze to look at her, and he smiled slightly.

"What do you need, Serah?" Stein spoke, and Serah gripped the box a little tighter to her after a few seconds.

"Nothing, I just wanted to say, thank you." Serah spoke.

"That's fine. Have you had a chance to try the circlets out?" He asked, and Serah smiled sheepishly.

"No, I only had a look at it before I came into class."

"I see." Stein spoke, and he glanced to something behind her. "Well have a go with it, but I would suggest you head out to lunch. Maka doesn't look very patient." Serah blinked, and looked behind her, to see Maka walking past, a look of burning curiosity across her face.

"Oh." Serah spoke, and she looked back at Stein after a moment. "Lord Death told me to go home after lunch to get some practice in. So I wont be in class later today."

"That's fine." He spoke, clipping the scalple set closed and placing it in his pocket carefully. "I will see you in class tomorrow, then." He spoke, and with that he went back to his cleaning up. She hesitated, still smiling that little bit before a certain scythe weilding girl started calling her name from the doorway.

"Yes, have a good day, Sir." Serah spoke, and she turned on her heel and began to head towards the door. She couldn't see Soul anywhere, as Serah approached Maka, who was standing in the hallway outside. She took extra grip of the purple box, glancing to the right as the form of Soul was now visible standing against the wall just a small while down the corridor.

"Took long enough!" Maka commented, a smirk across her face as Serah cast her a slightly curious look. "So you're ready now?"

"Yep!" Serah spoke, grinning broadly as Soul stepped away from the wall after a moment.

"About time, I'm starving." Soul spoke, and Serah smiled a little more as Maka began to lead the way to the cafeteria.

"Yeah, sorry about that!" Serah spoke, keeping pace with Maka and Soul to her left. "I had to thank Stein for making this for me." Serah spoke, motioning to the large box as she walked.

"So Stein made that." Stein spoke, again, walking with his arms crossed behind his head in that 'cool' way he seemed to like emulating all the time. "That's pretty cool."

"Right, so what do you feel like?" Maka spoke, looking over as they turned down the hallway that lead to the cafeteria. "Anything on the board you want, what's it gonna be?"

"I don't know ..." Serah spoke, looking ahead after a moment as she tried to think. "Sushi sounds good."

"Sushi? Really?" Maka asked, and Serah nodded as she looked back at her friend. 

"Yes. I quite like Sushi. And it means I'm not going to suddenly throw on weight again." Serah commented, glancing at Soul as he seemed to veer off in a different direction. It took a moment for her to notice that they'd actually arrived at the Cafeteria, and Serah looked at Maka as she tapped her on the shoulder.

"Go save us some seats, and I'll bring lunch over." Maka spoke, and Serah nodded hesitantly. She watched as Maka began to disappear off, wondering how many seats, and where. She usually just sat out on the front of the academy for lunch, where Maka usually found her after fifteen minutes or so. Looking around carefully, Serah spotted a few empty seats over in the far right corner. She hesitated momentarily, glancing over at the huge line Soul and Maka were in, before she began to walk towards the empty seats. She guessed she should really grab those seats before they were lost in the growing masses of students.

Stepping past table after table, Serah tried to keep both her box and her bag from collecting anyone, however it proved to be quite a time consuming, and difficult – she apologised to the odd person she knocked, and they said it was fine – one of them was someone she vaguely recognised from class, with glasses and two clumps of hair sticking out like they were glued in place. Her fingers were twitching with the desire to open the box and actually look at the weapon inside – now that she was left alone, she could feel the burning curiousity beginning to resurface – but she had to be patient, just a few more moments - when she grabbed the seats for the three of them, she could tear the box open and examine her new 'toy' to her heart's content.

Three steps … two steps … from one step away, Serah lifted her bag from her shoulder and placed it on the spare seat of the table of four chairs, feeling relief at actually reaching the table in time, before someone else got to it. Taking note of where the table was, Serah noticed that she was situated in the far corner of the cafeteria, not that it bothered her or anything. She placed her purple box on the table carefully, being more than a little careful, so she didn't jostle the circlets too much.

"So _you're_the one that's been stealing my spotlight." Came a voice from behind, causing Serah to blink after a few moments. She chose to ignore the voice – afterall, she didn't recognise it offhand, and she was pretty certain that they weren't talking to her in the first place – Really, the only two people that spoke with her, excluding the teachers and other people, was Maka, and just recently, Soul. She sat down at the table carefully, deciding to place her attention on the box again, when a hand suddenly slammed on the table with such force that she was scared half to death. "I was _talking_to you." Came that voice again, and as Serah blinked slowly, she carefully looked around at the person that was there, who was most definitely talking to her.

A young man was standing just next to her, his hand still slammed against the table as he seemed to leer at her – or glare, she wasn't sure which one to go with. He wore a black sleeveless top with a white kind of strip around the neck of it, and a pair of white three quarter pants with black bottoms from the knees down. His hair was the strangest colour of aqua Serah had ever seen, and for some reason, she actually believed that it was a natural colour. His hair was messy, and unkempt, clearly one of those people that didn't care too much about that, but for some reason, he came across as an egotistical boy – if anything, he probably meant to have his hair like that every day. He was athletically built too – like he did a hundred crunches, sit ups and chin ups every single day.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that you were speaking to me." Serah spoke cautiously, eyeing this young boy carefully – he seemed to have a mad look across his face, and for some reason, Serah had the feeling that he didn't really differenciate between picking on guys and picking on girls.

"You're going to have to do better than that." This 'boy' spoke, a nasty tone to his voice – What the hell was it with him and coming across like a total prick? She didn't do _anything!_

"Look … whoever you are. I don't even know what gave you the impression that I'm after some 'spotlight' that doesn't even exist." Serah spoke, crossing her arms as she eyed him, agitation creeping in on her. This was beginning to get old, and Serah was beginning to wonder what his problem with her actually was. "In fact, I've never seen you before in my life."

"What?" The boy shouted, horror crossing his face as he gaped at her. "Y-you've never heard of _me_? Black Star! The Big Man who'll surpass God?" Serah had to stop herself from scoffing at this – he'd probably get even more insulted. Although she did peg what kind of person he was – the kind that liked puffing up his own ego with every little thing he did; that much was obvious with how he went on about himself.

"Never seen you in my life." Serah commented, however, she vaguely remembered hearing a rant as such from _somewhere._And his had heard his name before, but that was it.Her clarification of her point had him positively stunned to silence – in fact, he didn't even seem to be able to comprehend what had happened. Had she dealt such a low blow that he couldn't seem to function anymore? She was only putting her honesty very, very bluntly. Serah observed him for a few seconds, noticing that he didn't even seem to be breathing. Had she _killed_him or something? How did she manage that? If anything, her remark should have just made him angry – although she was really, really glad he didn't react as such.

"Black Star!" Came the voice of a young woman, causing Serah to blink as she leant her head to the right to look at who had called the strange boy's name. A tall young woman came jogging over, somehow not managing to trip on anyone or knock anyone's lunch over as she moved. A long cream coloured dress covered her form, with a belt around her waist. A black scarf was wrapped around her neck, matching her black hair and armwarmers effectively. She stood at a rather tall height, towering over Serah, and the boy that was clearly called Black Star. However, unlike this Black Star that she'd never met before in her life, she had seen this young woman before – she sat next to Maka in class, and her name was Tsubaki. "I-I'm so sorry about this!" The young woman called Tsubaki spoke, pure embarrasment echoing in her voice as she grabbed Black Star by the shoulder, and proceeded to try and drag him away. "He's actually a nice guy – really!"

"He doesn't come across as one." Serah spoke before she could reign herself in, and a sheepish grin crept across Tsubaki's face as she continued to drag Black Star away – who was most certainly not fighting back; He hadn't snapped out of his freeze. For some reason, Serah hoped the strange 'boy' would snap out of it – she was beginning to feel guilty.

"Wow." Came Maka's voice from behind, causing Serah to blink in surprise, redirecting her gaze from the young woman dragging a 'fool' away, to the suddenly presence of Maka and Soul, who were both looking at Black Star. "What did you do to him?" Serah blinked in surprise, looking from Maka, to Soul, then back to Maka again, to see that they were both clearly wondering the same thing, for they both looked quite surprised themselves.

"What do you mean?" Serah asked, raising an eyebrow as Maka placed the two trays she had on the table that Serah had managed to save for them – and one of them had a large array of different sorts of Sushi rolls! Ooh, and some Fancy Tuna! She hadn't been aware that the Cafeteria actually sold Fancy Tuna.

"It looked like you'd just slapped him when I looked over, but he wouldn't have frozen like that." Maka said, glancing at Soul as he sat down on the chair in the corner.

"I told him I'd never heard of him." Serah spoke honestly, and she saw a look of shock creep across Maka's face as Soul suddenly burst out into laughter – Loud enough for several people here and there to look around in confusion. "What?"

"That's like telling Kid his socks don't match!" Soul continued to laugh as Maka let out a small giggle, before she sat down next to Soul. "I wish I was here to see the look on his face!"

"That's not funny!" Serah spoke bitterly, carefully pulling out the chair her bag wasn't upon – which, coincidentally was the one opposite Maka. "I thought he was going to attack me."

"He wouldn't of." Maka spoke, a slight smirk in her voice as Serah sat down on the chair carefully. "He would have just sat there preaching to you about stealing his spotlight, and _then_he would have started going on about his plans to surpass God."

"That's exactly what he did do." Serah spoke wearily, resting her chin upon a hand as she looked down at what Maka had got for her – there was a bottle of Lemon Lime and Bitters, which brought her mood back up to at least a little more happy. "But seriously. Why did some idiot I've never _seen_ in my life decide to come and yell at me? It's not like I attacked him or anything." Serah's rhetorical question earned her a look of confusion from both Soul and Maka, athough Soul placed his attention back on his lunch – Spaghetti it seemed.

"Are you serious?" Maka asked, and Serah nodded slightly as she reached out for the chopsticks on the tray next to the large clear box of Sushi Rolls. "You know he's in our class, right? He's Tsubaki's Meister."

"Mmm, that's that tall woman, isn't it?" Serah asked for clarification more than anything else, and Maka nodded in confirmation – which explained where she heard that rant about surpassing God from.

"You seriously didn't know?" Maka asked, and Serah shrugged slightly, neither agreeing or disagreeing with her – it was probably better to maintain the guise of a lack of knowledge at this point.

"Asside from when I talk with you, I have my music playing practically everywhere I go." Serah spoke, breaking apart the chopsticks carefully as she eyed off which sushi roll to start off with. "In class I have it just loud enough to drone out all of the complaining from class. I've done all the theory work before."

"I guess that explains why I have to throw something at you to get your attention." Maka spoke, and Serah scoffed slightly at that. She could always hear Stein's lectures over her music, so she could hear someone call her name. Letting out a breath through her nose, Serah looked at the pretty purple box holding her Circlets. Because of that confrontation with Black Star, she never got to so much as pick up the weapon, let alone have a proper look at it. She'd have to wait until after lunch – that's if Maka didn't complain about it. After all, Serah was the only one given permission to skip the afternoon classes.


	5. Touch!

**[AUTHORS****NOTES]** I'm so sorry about the delay on these chapters – my internet went down on the way through. Anyway, here is another chapter for you all to enjoy, and while it may look like the story isn't exactly going anywhere yet, there are relevent points in these chapters – you just have to look for them =)

_**CHAPTER FIVE: Touch!**_

The skies outside were still nice and bright, a kind of calming blue against the horizon of yellow and white that was the deserts. Serah stretched slightly as she walked out of the academy, dragging her feet along the ground a little as she did so. Feeling more than content with the awesome lunch Maka had shouted her, Serah decided it would be appropriate to go out and try out her circlets. Calling them 'new' circlets made it sound like she had owned a pair before, and didn't seem to fit for some reason. She glanced up at the chuckling sun as she began to walk properly, before a voice echoed throughout the area with a loud and resounding boom from above – although to her, the voice had a similar effect to a blood-curdling shriek, and it had her suddenly come to a dead halt.

"There you are!" The loud and obnoxious voice shouted, and Serah felt her right eye begin to twitch from behind her glasses. For someone who she had never met until that afternoon, she was beginning to hate hearing him speak. "You're going to pay for making a fool out of me!" That twitching eye of hers stopped as she heard the volume of those words become louder and louder far too quickly, and as she snapped her gaze to the top balcony of the Academy, she spotted him – that _moron_called Black Star, and he was coming at her with a clenched fist pulled back, as if he had leapt from the balcony with the intention to leap at her – or rather, that's what it looked like to her, in any case.

Serah's feet acted before she could even think of what to do – she had somehow jumped backwards a few paces, stumbled a few paces back further, and as she continued to lose balance, her bag dragged her the rest of the way to fall flat on her back and hit her head against the pavement in the same motion. Taking in a sharp breath through her gritted teeth, Serah placed a hand to the back of her head out of reaction, glaring up at the gloating form of Black Star with a venomous glint.

"What the hell do you want _now?__" _Serah spat, looking down at her hand as she pulled it from the back of her head – a couple of flecks of blood here and there – it looked like she had just grazed her head with the contact to the pavement, just her luck. That was going to make her life with hair brushes a royal pain. She blinked after a few seconds, looking at the busted remains of her box, where the Circlets had actually torn through the box. Blood flecked the white surface of the circlet blades, and as Serah looked to the source of blood, she noticed that the forearm of her left arm had a neat gash sliced along the length of her arm by the exposed Circlet blade. The other Circlet blade was sitting in her lap, dangerously close to slicing into her stomach, and Serah had to count her lucky stars that she hadnt taken a stronger grip of the box.

"I was going to demand payback for what happened earlier, but you can't even stand up against me." Black Star chortled, and as Serah cast him a more intense glare, he seemed to laugh more and more, and it just confirmed Serah's impression of him – he seemed more like a hawing donkey than anything else. Serah shook her head as she carefully pulled her whtie and orange top off, and wrapped it around the busted box to try and keep the Circlets from poking out and causing more damage.

"Fine, you've gotten your payback. Are you happy now?" Serah ground out, dragging herself to her feet gingerly as she stopped herself from actually biting – she didn't have any real proof, but she had the suspision that he was baiting her into getting into a fight with him. She touched the bridge of her nose carefully, finding that her glasses must have slipped off in the moment that she had hit her head, for they were no longer in their usual place upon her nose.

"You're totally weak – How could someone as weak as you steal the spotlight from me?" Black Star continued to speak, however, Serah was beyond listening to him – she didn't even hear him as she looked around to try and find her glasses. She finally spotted them several feet away, on the very edge of the steps down towards the bulk of Death City. Walking over as casually as she could manage, she ignored the exclamation of something from Black Star as she crouched down to pick up her glasses. She looked down at the lenses carefully, letting out an irritated breath through her nose as she observed the cracks through the tinted glass – well, it looked like she needed to buy another pair, which was unfortunate; She actually liked this pair. "You're ignoring me, aren't you!" She snapped her gaze to where Black Star was standing behind her, to fix him with the most filthy glare she could muster at that moment.

"No, I'm going home!" Serah spoke bitterly, lifting herself back to her feet as she folded her now broken glasses up. A kind of noise of shock escaped Black Star as she directed her angry glare away from him, and in the moment that she took a step to leave, she bumped into someone that had suddenly appeared in the half a second that she had placed her attention back to Black Star. She almost slipped, but secured herself in place as she snapped her gaze to whoever she had bumped into – when she found herself face to face with the one person she least expected to bump into during such a situation – she had only managed to spot the tiniest touches of gold before she practically bounced off him, and down a couple of steps to the right. A vivid flush of red touched the sides of her face as embarrasment took complete control of her facial features, and she could feel that horrible squirming feeling of a mild version of humiliation overcoming her.

"I-I'm so sorry!" Serah managed to grind out, and as she glanced at the barely-jostled Death The Kid, she felt her right foot slip on the step, sending her to slamming her knee upon the steps before she even knew what had hit her. A pained gasp escaped Serah as she forced herself to her feet as soon as she could manage, and as she heard someone begin to say something, she was practically limping down the steps at a run before she could even comprehend what had happened.

Slowing to a kind of hobble several hundred meters into the maze of Death City, Serah let out a shaky breath through her nose as she looked down at her broken glasses in her hand. A perfectly awesome day had turned into a perfectly horrible nightmare as soon as Black Star decided to notice her for some unexplainable reason. She'd have coped with the whole lot, if her glasses hadn't of gotten broken through all that – if her glasses had of miraculously survived being hurdled to the ground like that, she would have been happy enough to push that _fool_from her mind. But oh no – He had to pick on her during lunch, then leap at her, making her crack her head against the pavement, gash her arm open, and break her glasses all in the one moment.

Gash her arm open … Serah let out a breath as she rearranged everything in her grip to look down at her most prominent injury – yep, her arm was gashed; the injury was about ten centimeters long, and seemed to be around half a centimeter deep. Blood was running down the arm and dripping off as she walked, making it seem worse than it actually was? Serah took thanks in the fact that the gash hadn't hit bone or anything. Just a hell of a lot of Suchers and a nice amount of bandages would fix it – Serah was thankful that her clumbsiness had her invest in all manner of medical supplies. Her knee protested in her continuing on walking, however she merely paid no attention to it – when she got home, she'd let it get it's way.

Serah's foot caught on something, and as she began to stumble forward, all thoughts that had been running through her head disappeared within an instance. As she stumbled forward a pace more, she managed to stop herself from falling face first into the curbing of the road, which was a very, very good thing – her remaining shreds of good temperament was dwindling in the balance. Straightening herself up, she glared down at the ground where she had tripped first off, to see that she had managed to catch the tiniest of the upturned paving she had been walking upon – Talk about bad luck - Serah was beginning to wonder if she should retire for the day, in case something worse decides to rear it's ugly head.

Shaking her head in frustration, Serah increased her grip of the tank top bound box, deciding that she should go home, attend to her injuries, gorge on the seasoned seaweed she managed to get hold of last week, and then she would go to bed. It made no sense for her to continue on like this without any real closing thought. Oh that 'prick' was going to be the Death of her, she was sure of it.

"You alright?" Came a voice from behind, causing Serah to blink through her annoyance. Bringing her gaze back to focus, Serah looked over at where the voice had come from, to see a vaguely familiar form standing a few meters away. She eyed her suspiciously, before she realised where she had seen this person before – she was always following Death The Kid around with the other one … Patty? Serah didn't really know, she heard someone say the name Patty often in class, but she never took any real notice as to who the name belonged to. She could feel that her expression didn't look plesant, and she wasn't actually in the mood for cheering up – to put it bluntly.

"I'm _fine_." Serah ground out, turning on her heel to begin to leave again – all she wanted was to go home, already!

"Really?" The young woman called Liz commented, sarcasm dripping from her one word with sickly intensity. Serah came to a halt again, slowly, and she closed her eyes as she let out a breath slowly. No, she wasn't _fine,_she was quite simply, pissed off … or more to the point, she felt like she had just been humiliated by that blue haired obnoxious boy she was really beginning to hate. No, it wasn't really hate, she just had nothing but bad confontations with him, and she was hoping more than anything else, that there wouldn't be a next time.

"Kinda ..." Serah commented wearily after a few moments, looking back at Liz over her shoulder carefully. "I just wanna go home." It was in that moment, when she had calmed down enough to answer honestly, that Liz seemed to drop a fair portion of that look of boredom, and she began to approach after a moment.

"Well, you're bleeding, so I guess I'll help you with your stuff." She spoke, and Serah let out a breath through her nose slowly as she placed her gaze back ahead of her carefully.

"I can carry it myself." She spoke, hearing the sounds of footsteps approaching, until Liz had come to a stop just next to her, with her arms outstretched for the box Serah was holding with the tank top wrapped around. "No, seriously, I can carry my own belongings."

"And stop the bleeding at the same time?" Liz spoke, and Serah didn't need to see the rasied eyebrow to know that there was disbelief there – the tone of her voice was plenty enough for her to notice. Letting out another breath, Serah reluctantly handed Liz the box bound in the tank top, and as she looked down at her arm, she noticed the amound of blood running down her fingertips – oh, she hoped she didn't get blood over Death The Kid when she bumped into him. She'd let Liz help her out, until she was at home, then that was end of story – she didn't like the idea of someone she only really knew the name of to be helping her out like this – at least while she was in such a bad mood. "Are you normally injuring yourself like this?"

"Kinda." Serah spoke, beginning to make her way onwards home, and Liz began to follow after a second. "I'm clumbsy, so sharp objects are dangerous." Silence decended on Serah like a thick cloud of smog, and while she was content to keep it that way, she couldn't help but feel that she really was being rude. Letting out a breath, Serah scratched the back of her head with a hand, ignoring the flickering of pain that was beginning to surface in her arm – now that she was calming down, she could actually feel the pain becoming more intense. She did notice, however, that Liz was alone – no younger sister, or Meister with her at all, which prompted a mild form of curiosity; although in her current mood, it looked more like a bitter attempt at conversation to others, she would assume.

"You're not with the other two?" Serah asked after a moment, lowering her arm as they passed Soul and Maka's place – only a couple of streets away now.

"No." Liz spoke, that same boredom in her voice as the last few statements – she must really lead a cynical life if this was how she normally spoke. "Patty's calming Kid down." Calming Death The Kid Down? What the heck happened in the twenty seconds or so that it took for her to bump into him, and for Liz to catch up with her.

"Calming Death The Kid down?" Serah repeated after a moment, looking over her shoulder, to look a Liz.

"He started throwing a tantrum cause you got blood on his coat." Liz answered, and for some reason, Serah began to wonder how blood getting on his coat would make him throw a trantrum of sorts? It certainly didn't sound like something that any normal person would do – Hell, most people would see if the person bleeding was alright - and at that thought, Serah really did begin to feel like she should be slapped. "So what exactly happened, anyway?"

"Happened when?" Serah asked after a few moments, a tone of mild surprise in her voice as she looked at Liz again – she had been lost in thought about how horribly she was acting.

"To your arm."

"Oh." Serah spoke, mentally slapping herself for that one – she should have expected that at the very least. "I slipped when Black Star leapt out at me." She looked down at the pavement ahead of her as she turned down the last street towards her house. "The weapon in that box you've got there broke out on the way down."

"I see." Liz's voice spoke, and Serah let out another breath as she looked ahead for her house – this was becoming far to awkward for her – she just wanted to mend her arm and go have a long, hot bath.

Serah's house came to view, causing Serah to feel a bit of relief as she looked around at Liz, who was still carrying that box for her – but with a bit more care, Serah noticed. She came to a halt just a few paces from the door, turning to see that Liz had come to a halt as well, and she had a raised eyebrow.

"Thanks for the help." Serah spoke, and she saw Liz glance up at the house after a second. "I can take that box again."

"Sure." Liz spoke with that air of boredom, however Serah had long since decided that this was how the woman was. Serah reached out for the box, cringing in pain as she pressed the box into the wrong part of her arm.

"Bye." Serah spoke, just before Liz was about to say something, however the strange woman didn't frown – she remained silent for a few moments.

"Later." She spoke, and within a few moments, she was on her way, leaving Serah standing on the doorstep of her little house. Serah let out a breath slowly through her nose, pushing the door open carefully as she began to focus on working on necessary jobs – like mending her arm and then cleaning all the blood from her belongings.

For a day that started out so promising, it had turned into a real nightmare.


	6. Crow Song

_**CHAPTER SIX: Crow Song**_

A long night of closing up a rather serious injury had left her with very little energy the very next morning, and while Serah could most definitely understand why that was, while she should have been getting some sleep, she had been spending the whole time practically reeling over what had happened. Having decided that she didn't want anything to do with Black Star at all, she did wonder what his problem was. This lead to a long night full of internal cursing and the need to try and find something to blank out to – she had managed to blast enough music into her reeling mind to render it slightly motionless, enough so to get _some_sleep.

Serah walked into the classroom through the open door, her hands holding a book practically in front of her face as she walked, due to a lack of intact glasses – amazingly enough, she hadn't collected anything on her way through. Wearing a pair of brown karki shorts over her tights, and a puffy, white lace tanktop, Serah hoped that her now bandaged arm would cammoflauge with the white material, making it difficult for onlookers to see her damaged arm. However, unlike the normal day, where she was usually here before everyone else, she was one of the last people in class, and a few people looked up for some reason. From a glance around class, Serah spotted Maka and Soul's seat's empty, as well as her own, which meant that she wasn't the last one, much to her relief. Her headphones were blaring music loud enough for passers by to hear without difficulty, and while she was content with that, she had to turn it down as she approached the steps to the benches where everyone sat. She loved Girls Dead Monster, but she couldn't have it blaring through class all day – at least, not too loudly, anyway.

Her arm was killing her – with no painkillers she could take without ending up with her breakfast making second appearance, she was in for a long day of pain. Of course, thanks to her clumbsiness over the years, she had all the butterfly sutchers needed to mimic stitches stowed away in the huge first aid kit she had been keeping for such emergencies. Of course, there was a thick bandage patch over the gash, and her arm was wrapped thickly with many bandages – and yet blood still seeped through the bandages and all while she slept for that tiniest hour. Serah managed to weave past a few people, her gaze still upon her book as she moved. She didn't have her bag this time – she didn't want to agrivate the arm too much, so she left her textbook and pen at home, and just brought her novel. And considering how sharp her circlets were to break through the box yesterday, she didn't feel comfortable bringing them with her to the academy so soon after injuring herself.

She stepped past a black-clad being without the usual difficulty that was brought upon her by her usually filled to the brim over-the-shoulder-bag she had with her on most days. She carefully set herself in the seat that was her usual place along the middle row of benches, and she set her book down carefully as she pulled out her MP3 player, switching the song to Crow Song as she heard other people beginning to enter the class – of course she could hear everyone else, she had her headphones around her neck, although, as she ignored a glace from her right, she lifted her headphones gently, to place them on properly. This was going to be a very, very long day.

This time, Serah didn't ignore the glance she felt hit the side of her face – she looked up at who had glanced at her, to see Death The Kid frowning down at her for some reason she couldn't really comprehend. She blinked, looking away as she felt him look away from her, and she placed her gaze down upon her book in her lap after a few moments. What did she do wrong? Asside from managing to gash her own arm open, and bumping into him, she did absolutely nothing. The faintest hints of movement to Serah's right, past Death The Kid, came to her notice, and as she looked around to see who it was, her gaze fell upon the form of Liz, who was seated on the other side of Patty. She was waving in a half-hearted manner, and as soon as she saw that Serah was looking, she lifted her arm slightly, and pointed at it with her other hand, motioning at a sign of 'don't worry about it' as she waved in a kind of dismissive manner?

Serah let out a breath after a few moments, resting her head down upon the edge of the bench as she set her book open in her lap, contenting herself with reading the novel like that – there was enough light for it, and without her glasses, she practically had to have the book in front of her face to be able to read to begin with. Class would be starting soon, but that didn't mean she couldn't read while she waited for the start – however she was a little self concious about that look that Death The Kid had cast her. While it was her fault she bumped into him, she felt certain that she didn't deserve a look like that.

Track clicked over again and again, and while Serah slowly read the page she was on with her glasses-less vision, she began to wonder what was going on with class – her hair hid everything from her peripheral vision, and with her forehead resting against the edge of the bench, there was no way she could see anything in front of her. Or maybe because of the blood loss from yesterday, she was just so damn tired that she didn't hear class start and that it was around twelve. She had to resign herself to the thought that she must be too exhausted to register that anyone was there, and she was missing the vivisection. If Serah were a near-extinct bengal tiger, she wouldn't want to bump into Stein down a dark alleyway – she'd probably never recover from the vivisection.

Serah flinched as she felt something suddenly pull the headphones from her all of a sudden, and as she sat bolt upright, she saw her headphones clunk to the benchtop like it had just been dropped. She blinked, seeing that quite a few people were looking at her, as well as a perfectly present Stein, who was seated on his chair as he took attendance. Who had grabbed her headphones...?

"You're required in the Death Room." Stein's voice came through the pure confusion of her thoughts, causing Serah to snap her gaze to Stein immediately. A large cage was situated just next to Stein, housing a terrified looking hyena inside – had it heard of what was going to happen to it? "Sleeping in class is not the best way to spend your time."

"I-I'm sorry!" Serah almost squeaked, springing to her feet quickly as Stein raised an eyebrow at her response. A dull thud echoed a second later, causing Serah to quickly gather up the book that she had dropped, and her headphones from the bench before beginning to quickly make her way past the staring people and out of the classroom. A few people in the class laughed at her, but she tried her best to push it from her conscious thought as she stumbled a little on the steps out of the row. How nice it was for Stein to keep silent while she was making a complete fool of herself.

Serah came to a halt twenty meters down the corridor, leaning against the wall as she tried to sort herself out – Her face was beet red, and she could feel the shaking of her breath from embarrasment. She looked down at her book as she focused on blanking her mind out, to see that the top part of the spine had a nice dent in it – she must have dropped it hard then, if the spine, of all things was the one that took such damage. She carefully lifted her headphones back to her head, putting them back in place as she straightened her top and pulled her shorts up a little bit. It really was just her luck today, wasn't it?

"Serah?" Came a familiar voice from behind, causing Serah to blink in fright. She turned her head to look at who had called her, to see the only two people she spoke with of late – Maka and Soul. Both were approaching her, Soul with his usual cool pose of hands burried into his pockets as he walked in a slightly slouched manner, and Maka with her normal straight backed stroll. However, unlike what Serah had expected, they had come over with the purpose of going in this direction, she took notice of this as she carefully pulled her headphones from her head. "What's wrong? Your face's beet red."

"Uhmm … " Serah began, glancing away momentarily as she secured her book in place. "I fell asleep in class …. and Stein decided to point it out." Serah spoke – Lied, more or less, and she saw Maka blink, while Soul just grinned. "And I've gotta go to the Death Room, too ..."

"Really? That's where we're going, too." Soul spoke, and Serah looked from Soul, to Maka, then back and forth again. Okay, this was beginning to get weird …

"I see." Serah spoke, and she blinked as Maka and Soul began to walk onwards at a stroll. "But – why would we all have been called?"

"Dunno." Maka spoke, glancing back at Serah momentarily. "People get called all the time – you just get used to it." Serah let out a breath after a few moments, beginning to follow after several moments – it wouldn't help for her to stand there looking pathetic all morning. Soul and Maka conversed about something, probably what was going to be made for dinner that night, and as Serah followed behind a few paces back, they soon reached the Death Room. Maka pushed the door open without so much as a hesitation, causing Serah to blink in mild surprise – was she the only one that hesitated when she came here? 

"Why hello! Come in! Come in!" Came the usually awesome bouncy voice belonging to Serah's favorite adult in the whole city, bringing a smile to her face. While he was technically a Grim Reaper, Lord Death just didn't fit the description – In Serah's head, all she could think of was a chibi skeleton with a huge, oversized scythe, and struggling to stand up straight in a heavy cloak when it came to picturing a Grim Reaper – completely different.

"Good morning, Lord Death!" Maka spoke, a cheerful tone to her voice. Serah closed the door behind them quietly, hesitating before she began to walk onwards – Maka and Soul were already down in the main part of the Death Room, standing in front of the ever present Lord Death.

"And Serah's with you too! Excellent!" Lord Death spoke, and Serah let out a weary breath as she came to a halt just next to Maka, making sure to keep her left arm mostly hidden in the folds of her white top. "I'm very glad you came on such short notice. I have a little extra lesson for you three."

"Really?" Maka spoke, and Serah blinked slowly as she glanced at Maka momentarily. "So, no Black Star, Tsubaki, or Kid?"

"Not this time." Lord Death spoke, and Serah had to stop herself from letting out a breath in relief – having an extra lesson with Black Star of all people would kill her; she still hadn't come up with a way to deal with the boasting, egotistical brat that just caused her more trouble than was necessary. "This little extra lesson is a small one, so we don't need to involve more than you three." Serah glanced at Maka again in moderate confusion, to see the young woman cast her a similar look, before they both looked back at Lord Death.

"I'm just wondering." Maka began, and Serah raised an eyebrow as she heard that tone in Maka's voice. "If it's something Soul and I can handle, then why is Serah coming with us?" She seemed to pause for a second as Lord Death tilted his head to the right slightly. "I-I'm not complaining … but I thought you would want her to have a Meister before she starts helping with Kishin eggs?" That was a low blow there. Even though Maka was completely right, that didn't stop Serah from casting her a prickly look of irritance.

"I know." Lord Death spoke, causing Serah to look back at him after a second. "However she should go out and learn the way things are done – and if Serah can get her hands on a Kishin Egg or two, then it's even better." Serah blinked, not quite sure how to take that one – and it was obvious from the look across Maka's face that she didn't know how to comprehend that one – Soul just looked somewhat bored.

"I'd be treating it like I am my own Meister, in that regard." Serah spoke quietly, and she saw Lord Death bounce in place for a moment.

"Pretty much." Lord Death spoke, and Serah increased her grip of the book in her grip carefully. "This is just for you to observe, but if you feel inclined, there's no reason why you can't start the other parts in becoming Meister and Weapon while you're waiting."

"I understand." Serah spoke after a few seconds, and she saw Lord Death bounce on his spot in front of the three of them momentarily, once again.

"Now, getting back onto topic - There's a small gathering of criminals along the outskirts of Paris trying to become Kishin Eggs. I'd like you three to go and deal with them." Serah blinked, chewing on the inside of her bottom lip slowly as she listened silently – this was not good, most definitely not good; Serah didn't even take a proper look at her circlets after all the trouble yesterday – how was she supposed to be of any help when she didn't have a chance to train with them? Maybe she had to take a stab? Ooh, too bad the Circlets had no 'points' to them. "Maka, as you're the only one that can sense other souls, you'll have to advise Serah of exactly what's out there – unlike you and Soul, this is very new, and accidents are more common with a lack of information."

"Right." Maka spoke, and there was a strange level of seriousness to her voice – Serah even looked up at her out of confusion at the tone.

"Now, I'll be expecting an update as soon as you've completed the lesson – and don't forget, today and tomorrows classes are off for you to complete this task." Serah blinked at this, tilting her head slightly as she looked back at Lord Death. This would make it three days in a row she skipped out of classes early at least.

"No problem, we'll get this done quick." Soul spoke, for the first time since they entered the Death Room – Serah had actually forgotten he was there, so the sound of his voice all of a sudden almost made her jump.

"I'll be counting on you!" Lord Death spoke, and after a moment, he lifted one of those huge inflatable hands from his side to begin waving. "I'll catch you later! Have fun now!"

"Later!" Soul spoke, seeming to turn on his heel as he took a pace back carelessly.

"Bye." Serah heard Maka speak, looking from Maka and Soul, then back to Lord Death again as she saw the two begin to turn and leave.

"Goodbye, Lord Death." Serah spoke quickly, turning to follow Maka and Soul quickly, before she lost them. Lord Death spoke nothing, and as Serah blinked in mild confusion, she saw Maka disappear through the door of the Death Room. Picking up the pace so she wouldn't get left behind, the tiniest hints of Maka speaking came to Serah's notice – although she wasn't close enough to hear what was said – All she was focusing on was not losing Maka and Soul.

She stepped carefully through the doorway to the Death Room, pausing momentarily to turn and push the door shut carefully behind her as she moved. Upon her attempt to turn and continue at a brisk walk, she felt herself walk into something so suddenly she was sent stumbling backwards into the now closed door of the Death Room. Snapping her gaze up to what she had walked into, she felt all the colour drain from her face as she saw the form belonging to Death The Kid standing there, looking down at her with a look of irritation across his face.

"I-I-I'm sorry!" Serah stammered, immediately stepping around Death The Kid and the ever present Liz and Patty, sprinting onwards as she felt embarrasment take it's place in the centre of her emotions once again. How the hell did they suddenly end up right where she was walking like that? Twice in less than twenty four hours already – Serah hoped more than anything else there wouldn't be a third time.

Reaching the expanse of the paved area outside of the Academy, Serah came to an inelegant halt as she breathed deeply to catch her breath. Leaning forward with her hands to her knees, she fought to try and get a hold of herself. This wave of embarrasment that overcame her once again was more problematic than it really should be. Maybe it was that look of irritation he shot at her all the damn time that got to her – yeah, that was probably it. Serah let out a breath as she straightened up, and looked around as she tried to figure out what she was supposed to be doing – Something was missing, and she was supposed to be doing something, but her brain just wasn't working for her.

Looking at the area around her, Serah raised an eyebrow wearily as she rubbed her bandaged arm gently. She was strangely coordinated for someone with horrible balance, and there was no heavy bag weighing her down on one side to make her balance even worse. What was missing to have her _not_fall over while she was running? Asside from the huge shoulderbag she carried on a normal day. Looking down at her strangely empty arms, Serah frowned marginally as she tried to figure out what was missing. Something was – but what was it? She never walked out of home without some form of a book – and then it clicked in place. She dropped her book when she bumped into Death The Kid – that must be it! There was no other way she could have dropped her book and not noticed it – it was the only time she had blanked out enough to actually not notice.

"Serah?" Came the voice belonging to Maka, causing Serah to blink in surprise, looking around to see Soul and Maka standing just a few paces behind her, Maka looking confused as Soul just stood there in that 'cool' pose he liked with his arms folded behind his head. "How'd you get out here before us? Didn't you hang back or something?" Serah blinked, her confusion beginning to leave her as she continued to stare at Maka. And this reminded her of what she was supposed to be doing – going out on an Extra Lesson with Maka and Soul.

Serah cursed her luck as she looked away from Maka, shaking her head slightly as she thought on what she was going to do – not enough time to go and get her book back from wherever she had dropped it …

And that was one of her favorites, too.


	7. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

_**CHAPTER SEVEN – Higurashi no Naku Koro ni**_

The wind was a sharp chill against Serah's face as she stared out at the strange landscapes before her. The area was a medium shade of gold in the setting sun, and as she let out a weary breath, she heard the sounds of Maka and Soul approaching from one of the buildings behind her. Traveling all the way to Paris for an extra lesson was more than a little over the top, at least to Serah, but Maka had mentioned that she and Soul had gone to Rome for an extra lesson themselves. Yes, being sent all over the place was part and parcel of the life of a Death Weapon Meister Academy student, but Serah had at least assumed that she wouldn't be sent anywhere as far away as _France_straight off the bat.

"Spot anything interesting out there?" Came Soul's voice, causing Serah to look over at him wearily after a few moments, to see him and Maka approaching from a small store that looked like a strange convenience store or something.

"No." Serah spoke, letting out a breath as she looked back around once again. Yep, trekking all the way to France was way over the top for a first extra lesson – why couldn't Lord Death give her a more localised extra lesson? Like in the actual academy itself? "It's hard enough for me to make out buildings in this light, let alone some group of guys trying to become Kishin Eggs."

"Well, first of all, you're looking the wrong way." Maka spoke, a smirk in her voice as Serah looked over in response. Tossing Serah a small, glass bottle of what looked to be flavoured milk, Maka seemed to look in completely the opposite direction – in the direction they _came_from.

"Then where are they?" Serah asked, glancing down at the yellowish green coloured bottle momentarily. There was a whitish green spot on the front of the bottle, but since it was written in French, she couldn't read what it was.

"Over there." Serah heard Maka speak, and she looked over towards the right, where she motioned to. "There's eight of them, over by that fountain, about half way between the Bell tower and the trees."

"I can't see anything." Serah spoke sulkily, peering around to try and spot where this group of eight Kishin Eggs were at that moment. It was worse than trying to find a needle in a haystack – more like a needle in a paddock.

"I guess." Maka spoke, and Serah looked at her as she seemed to observe something for a few moments. "They're just standing there, I don't quite get it."

"Maybe they're waiting for someone." Serah suggested with an air of boredom, and Maka shrugged slightly. She let out a breath slowly, looking down at the over-the-shoulder-bag that had practically nothing in it – Practically nothing, except for her Circlets. It was the only thing she could do to ensure that it wasn't going to slice anything – why had it been made to be that ubsurdly sharp it could slice through thick cardboard just by knocking against it, Serah didn't know, all she knew was that she needed a method to carry it around soon, otherwise she was in for more and more accidents.

"We should start moving." Soul spoke after a few moments, and Serah let out a well-hidden breath of exasperation after a few seconds – she was still wondering how the hell she was supposed to be of any help while not having had a chance to use her Circlets. A severed hand was imminent at this rate.

"What, towards them?" Serah asked, looking from Soul, to Maka, then back to Soul again.

"Yeah, what did you think? Away from them?" Soul asked, sarcasm heavily lining his voice. Serah had a hard time not snapping back at that – peoples sarcasm and bad moods were beginning to rub off on her, she was sure of it.

"Come on." Maka spoke, and Serah let out a breath as she began to trudge after them, more than certain she'd be more help standing where she had been before. She slipped the bottle of flavored milk into the side pocket of her bag, eyeing the way that the landscape seemed to show a sinister feel to it, however, the likelihood of it being her overactive imagination at that point was quite high.

Before they had even gotten that far along, the faintest of movement from Serah's left came to her notice, and as she looked to see what it was, she felt more than just a little bit surprised as she saw Soul materialise into a scythe. She hadn't heard anything, or seen anything that warranted a reaction like such – What was this about?

"You able to keep up?" Serah heard Maka speak, and it was a couple of moments later, when Serah realised that Maka was actually speaking to her. Nodding quickly as Maka glanced back, Serah placed her attention on her footing – it would be just her luck if she were to fall over now.

"Why? What's going on?" Serah asked quietly, blinking in mild shock as Maka just picked up the pace. "Hey! Maka!"

"They're splitting up!" Maka spoke quickly, and as Serah picked up the pace so she was practically running, she felt her feet slip slightly on the leafy pavement. Serah's gaze faultered – she snapped her vision straight down as she felt herself stumble mid-stride, and as she managed to stabolise herself, she felt all colour leave her face as she felt a cold chill run down her spine. Serah managed to slide to a halt, looking around quickly as she tried to figure out what that feeling was – it wasn't normal, it almost felt like … someone was walking over her grave. There was nothing around her though, just trees, dead leaves, and a vast emptiness that almost seemed … artificial for some reason. It couldn't possibly be because she was in a foreign land … there had to be something more to it than that.

But … where was everyone? Upon a second look, Serah realised that she had gotten separated from Maka and Soul in the few seconds she had been lost in her clumbsiness. They weren't within Serah's field of vision – for some reason, without her glasses, she couldn't see in detail – she couldn't see if there were trees ahead of her, or fence posts, or even if they were people standing in the distance. The cold chill running down her face was an effect of the sensation of forboding that had completely taken over her body, and as Serah tried to drag herself onwards, she found that she felt more uneasy heading to the right, rather than anywhere else. Cursing her luck, Serah let out a breath slowly, and slipped her hand down to her bag to loosen the buckles of her shoulder bag as she forced herself to start moving.

Serah couldn't even hear anything – no fighting, no screaming of Kishin eggs being killed relentlessly by an experienced Weapon and Meister – and why was it that Serah couldn't even pick where she had _come_from? Realistically, the direction Serah had come from was behind, but as she looked back over her shoulder, there was no sign of the convenience store, or anything – Almost like Serah was locked in an emulation of the Penro's Steps.

"You are a long way from home, are you not?" Came a heavily accented voice, catching Serah's attention immediately, causing her to stumble to a halt on the uneven pavement. Snapping her gaze around to where she was certain the voice had come from, Serah could see nothing but the confusing labrynth that was the local park. Surely she hadn't imagined that voice – most certainly not! Her racing heart and stomach said she had most certainly heard the strange voice, however that rational side of her said that she had not, and while she battled with herself in an attempt to make heads or tails of an uncomfortable situation, Serah's right knee gave way on her through a step backwards.

A sudden pain shot through the side of Serah's face as she crumbled to one knee, and as she caught sight of a flash of silver hit the tree to her right, Serah realised that she hadn't imagined the voice at all. A throwing knife was embedded within the soft wood of the tree, the tiniest drop of blood staining the blade of the knife, highlighting to Serah what had caused that jolt of pain as she crumbled to her knees.

"The beautiful insightful subconscious, oui?" That heavily accented voice spoke, and Serah snapped her gaze around to where she heard the voice – which in this time, she managed to catch where the person with her was. A tall, slight built being stood several meters away, veiled in the shadow of the setting sun behind them – however, silhouette or not, Serah could see that it was a masculine form, and that there were several throwing knives in his right hand. "You would be dead if not for your 'clumbsiness', you know?" How had she not noticed that the being there was even around her in the first place? He couldn't have 'appeared' there like through teleportation or anything! She dragged herself to her feet shakily, turning on her feet to face the armed being cautiously. Maka and Soul were nowhere to be found – she was alone, and she knew it. They couldn't bail her out – Oh why did Lord Death have to put her on this extra lesson when she had no experience in combat yet?

"I can see you're scared, oui!" The silhouetted being chortled in a kind of high-toned voice, and the hints of laughter in the voice was louder than what Serah knew it really was in reality – her heart was racing with the amount of effort she was putting into remaining motionless on the spot – to not turn and run away like every nerve in her body was screaming at her to do. "That look of fear is growing! Ooh, it's so pretty! You were with those other two, but you don't know how to fight, do you?" She couldn't use her circlets - she was just going to hurt herself in doing that – They weren't even bound so she could 'draw' them! Just rattling around in her bag, loose, as if they were just brought for show. How - how was she supposed to fight this person that clearly could kill her in a matter of moments?

Serah's fingertips brushed against the neck of the bottle of flavoured milk she'd been given, and as she fell motionless for a few seconds, she saw the tall, silhouetted form of the Kishin Egg straighten up, and he seemed to almost become even taller.

"But an easy meal's an easy meal – and, oui, you do look tasty." The heavily accented voice spoke, and Serah froze as she saw pearly white teeth gleam menacingly in the silhouettes face. "Don't take it personally, you're just in the wrong place at the wrong time." The silhouette swung his arm back slowly, and as Serah felt panic begin to take root in the pit of her stomach, her fingers wrapped around the neck of the glass bottle. "Auevoir – petit le minou." Instantly, Serah pulled the bottle from the bag at her side, and threw the bottle at the being at the tiniest glimmer of a chance – and the bottle shattered as it flew across the five meter gap. Throwing her weight to her right in an attempt to avoid the throwing knife she knew was heading for her, and once again her leg gave way, sending her crumbling to the ground painfully.

A blood-curdling shriek of pain shot through the clearing, and as Serah scrambled to her feet as fast as she could manage, she looked back to see the tall silhouette grasping at his face, the daggers held in his grip now lying upon the ground around him – his knife had obviously gone through the thrown bottle of flavored milk, and sent the shattered glass straight into his face, and into his open eyes.

"What do I do?" She couldn't help but ask as she backed away from the shrieking form, and she felt her bag continue to knock against her knees. No, she couldn't run away – that was sure to get her a fail, but she didn't know what to do against someone who was intent on killing her! She wasn't even sure if she could kill the Kishin like she was supposed to! The panic that had taken over her body was beginning to sap her of air that she needed to think straight – she was beginning to hyperventilate as she stumbled back a little more – her legs seemed to want to go in the opposite direction to where the rest of her wanted to go.

"How dare you!" The silhouetted form shrieked, snapping Serah's attention back to the problem at hand. Her eyes fell upon the furious, and bleeding face of the Kishin egg as he threw himself towards her, bloodlust in his now visible face as he quickly closed the distance between Serah's stumbling form, and himself. Her hands took hold of the sides of her bag quickly, and in the tiniest span of coherrent thought, she managed to get her bag up in the way to block the knife uppercut the Kishin egg threw at her. The tearing of material echoed with deafening volume as the material of her bag gave way, and as Serah slipped and fell backwards, she saw the streak of white that was her circlets caught by the Kishin Egg's swing, and thrown up in the air from the motion.

Now she really was out of options – Serah knew this all too well as the circlets landed on the ground behind the Kishin, back were the broken glass was. Scrambling for ideas, Serah threw herself to the right to avoid a lunge from the Kishin egg, and instead of landing straight, her feet seemed to want to make her go to the right, and she landed painfully on her side, sliding a few meters along the pavement to a halt at the base of a tree. Rage seemed to have taken root in the Kishin egg's mind – he wasn't even speaking, just shrieking in anger as he seemed to stumble around himself. Serah looked from the enraged Kishin egg, to her circlets lying innocently on the ground several meters away, and back to the Kishin egg once again. This was probably as good a chance as she'd get – and she was out of time as the Kishin egg locked eyes with her, and bloodlust screamed with deafening volume.

Serah scrambled to her feet, and as she threw herself forward in a mad dash towards her circlets, a shriek of anger echoed from right behind her. She didn't dare look back – her attention was on her one chance to save herself from being torn to pieces, and as she tried to force herself to run that little bit faster, she felt her right foot slip, and she was sent hurdling to the ground with a dull thud.

Silence echoed for no more than a second, allowing just that length of time before a sharp pain shot through the thigh of Serah's right leg, causing a shriek of pain to escape her. Opening her eyes against the agony of what she knew was a knife stabbed into her leg, Serah looked up at the sight of her circlets – still innocently lying out of her reach, by no more than a few inches! Blinking furiously against the tears of pain that welled up, Serah reached out for her circlets, frantically trying to ignore the shadow that was being cast over her by the Kishin egg standing over her prone form.

Another sharp pain shot through Serah's form, however this time it was not from a blade, but rather a foot slamming down onto her injured leg, which caused another shriek of pain to escape her form. Despiration took hold of her as she saw the shadow cast in front of her raise an arm slowly, and she threw herself forward with all her remaining strength, sending the Kishin stumbling backwards as he lost balance. Pain engulfed Serah's form as she fought to retrieve the circlets, ignoring the pain of the blade biting into the flesh of her hands, Serah scrambled to her feet as she heard a furious growl escape the Kishin egg. Throwing one forceful swing, the circlet blade on the other end of the chain swung around flimsily, and sunk deep into the flesh of the Kishin Egg's neck, coming to a halt at the spinal column in his neck as he fell suddenly motionless.

As Serah managed to take a breath big enough to get some oxygen to her air-deprived lungs, it was in that moment that she actually caught what the Kishin Egg actually looked like. A lanky young man with long ginger hair pulled back in a ponytail at the nape of his neck, and a pair of blue eyes set in a pale face. He looked to be no older than twenty, maybe twenty two at most. Blood gushed from the gash to the Kishin egg's neck, and as his form suddenly melted away to nothingness, Serah remained silent and motionless as the circlet blade landed on her feet, thankfully not slicing into her leg on the way down.

A hovering red orb with hexagonagal scales and a flame shape to the top hovered in the air where the Kishin egg had stood before, casting an eerie glow over Serah's battered form. Lacking the energy to so much as release the circlet blade that was cutting into her right hand, Serah's form flopped back onto the pavement, and a weary groan escaped Seran as her head hit the pavement with enough force to inflict pain noticeable against the pain of the knife still sticking out of her leg.

If a Kishin Egg came by right about now, Serah'd be a very easy meal for them, but there was no energy left in her weary body to so much as stop her circlet from biting into her flesh. Her hyperventilation had long since gone, and now she was left drifting off into unconsciousness.


	8. Changing

_****_**[Authors Notes]** **  
><strong>Alright everyone, I've got another chapter for you, and I hope this'll do for the next week - I'm getting there with the next chapter, don't you worry. In actuality I've been working on a Seven Part Story (Kinda like a Oneshot Story based on two particular characters) For the Soul Eater series, like this one, lol. Anyway, lemme know if you'd be the least bit interested in it, and don't forget to lemme know if you're wanting more chapters up sooner! My mind's been wandering quite a lot!

_**CHAPTER EIGHT – Changing**_

The burning sensations of a harsh light against the side of the face was all that met the faint consciousness of Serah. She cringed in her slumber, turning slightly to try and shift the irritating light from her sore eyes. Her body was heavy for some reason, and as she slowly opened her eyes, a wave of weariness overcame her. Her head was thick with a kind of fogginess that better suited concussions than just waking up. For the most part, Serah had no real feeling in her body, nor could she remember offhand what had happened to her. She didn't want to think too much, due to that fogginess that would not shift, no matter how long she remained motionless.

The ceiling above her head was plain – a kind of white that wasn't the ceiling of her own home. There were white curtains along the right and bottom of her vision, and two windows to the left of her, which showed a late afternoon sky outside, the oranges from the snoozing sun beginning to dim down to make way for the darker tones of nightfall. Serah slowly reached her arms up to bring herself upright, and a sharp shot of pain coursed straight through her right side. She still perservered with dragging herself upright, barely managing to ignore the pain that was coursing through her body as she did so. Lifting the blankets back carefully, Serah found herself staring down at her legs not covered by what she knew was a kind of hospital gown, and bandages were wrapped tightly around her whole upper thigh – from the knee down, there were no bandages, and flecks of red were beginning to show through the bandages in place.

Arranging the pillows at her back carefully, she set herself back so she was sitting mostly upright, letting out a weary breath as she looked around the deserted medical facility she was being kept in. Serah couldn't hear anyone else in the room with her for some reason, and as she let out a breath slowly, she chose to look down at her hands after a few moments. Her left arm was bandaged up with thick and heavy bandages from the tips of her fingers, to the elbow of her arm, and the palm of her right hand was bandaged as well. Obviously someone had gone and made better work of the bandages around her forearm than she did. She had no choice but to wonder, what exactly had happened for her to wake up here?

The faint sounds of the door opening echoed from Serah's right after a few moments, it seemed, for as she actually looked in the direction of the door consciously, the brightness in the room had suddenly changed to a dark evening purple. The faintest hints of a kind of lamp somewhere in the space ahead flicked on after a few moments, and as Serah directed her gaze to the source of faint light in the room, the curtain to the cubicle she was in slid open after a few moments – why hadn't she heard any footsteps? Why couldn't she pick where they could be? The light began to flood in with blinding brightness, obscuring her strangely altered vision that bit so the form of a slender form was visible as a blury silhouette against a blinding brightness.

"So you're finally awake, Serah?" Came a strangely melodious voice after a few seconds, causing Serah to blink momentarily. "I trust you're feeling alright, considering that you're upright."

"Y-yes," Serah hedged, glancing away from the silhouette of the woman. "I'm in the Academy?"

"You most certainly are." The voice spoke, and Serah hesitantly looked up at the moving silhouette as the lamp just next to the bed flicked on after a few seconds, to reveal a young looking woman standing before her. Long silver hair hung down a slender, almost athletic form, ending with a bow around the ends of her hair just at her lower back. A pair of pale red eyes were fixed upon Serah's form with curiosity, set in a delicate looking pale face. She was dressed in a orange jumper and a pair of black jeans, completed with a white lab coat that spoke 'nurse'. The woman looked no older than late twenties, but Serah did wonder if the woman was as old as she looked. A neat little badge sat upon the right side of her chest, labeled with the name 'Sophia'. "Maka's been worried about you; and rightly so. The state they brought you back in was a nightmare."

"Is that so …?" Serah hedged, looking down at her bandaged up lap wearily after a few seconds.

"That's all you can say?" The young woman called Sophia spoke, a moderate frown creeping across her palid features. "You make it sound like you don't remember much."

"Thats …" Serah began, glancing up at Sophia momentarily as she thought carefully. "Well, more to the point, I don't actually know."

"I suppose I can't really complain." Sophia spoke after several moments of silence, and Serah hesitated before she actually looked back up. "There was an injury to the back of your head; amnesia from head injuries are a common thing." The young woman turned on her heel and began to head towards where Serah knew the desk was located. "Don't worry about it; it'll come back to you after a bit of rest."

"You … said that Maka was worried about me …?" Serah spoke hesitantly after a few seconds, directing her gaze to the window to her left nervously.

"Yes, what about it?" Sophia's voice spoke, however, Serah couldn't exactly pick where in the room her voice was coming from.

"Why was she worried?" Her question was met with the sensations of a stern glance from somewhere off to the right, but she couldn't really understand why that was.

"It was Maka and Soul that brought you in this morning, after that extra lesson of yours." Sophia answered from wherever in the medical room she was. "I heard it didn't go too well – Lord Death wanted to speak with you about that, come to think of it."

"O-oh ..." Serah trailed off, placing her gaze down on the blankets over her lap after a few seconds. She didn't quite know why, but she felt the sensation of being in trouble for something she didn't do, or something like that. That feeling of foreboding second-hand guilt that didn't quite make sense to her settled in, making the conversation feel a little stupid to her. "Did he sound angry …?"

"Angry?" Sophia questioned, and it was in that moment that she stuck her head through the curtains of the cubicle to look at Serah properly. "I doubt it. Unless you ate a human soul, I don't think he'd be angry with you for 'not doing well' on an extra lesson. And just by looking at you, I can tell you haven't eaten anything you're not supposed to."

"I see ..." Serah spoke, glancing out at the window momentarily. "Is it okay, if I go and see Lord Death now?"

"I'd rather you didn't put any weight on your legs too soon." Sophia spoke, disappearing back behind the curtains after a few seconds. "I was just coming in to check on everything, so I'll just get you a mirror so you can talk to Lord Death right there." The faint sounds of rummaging through the parts of the room Serah couldn't see began to echo faintly, and it was several moments before Sophia appeared through the curtains again, holding out what looked to be a circular desktop mirror, around thirty centimeters in circumference. It was plain, and had a pristine, clear gloss to the reflective surface. "Here."

"Uhm, thank you ..." Serah spoke, looking down at the mirror momentarily as Sophia seemed to straighten up.

"Alright, now, was there anything you wanted, before I disappear?" Sophia asked, crossing her arms as she stared down at Serah, who blinked up at her nervously.

"No, thank you." She spoke, and it was a few seconds, before Sophia smiled slightly, and began to leave the room.

"I'll be back in first thing tomorrow morning. Sleep well." Sophia's voice spoke, and several moments later, Serah heard the door of the medical room close with a small clunk. Serah let out a weary breath several moments later, leaning back against the bed head after a few seconds, and placing her gaze upon the darkened ceiling.

Yes, it was true that Serah didn't remember all that much, but what had happened to cause her short term memory to vanish like that? What extra lesson was she placed on with Maka to have her end up waking up with her body in this condition, and her memories to have vanished? Letting out a weary breath, Serah placed the mirror on the bedside table after a few moments, and looked around instead, for a pair of crutches. She wasn't really meaning to be disobedient, but she just didn't feel all that comfortable just sitting in bed having a conversation with Lord Death through a cursed Mirror.

Serah let out a breath as she hesitantly lifted the bottom of the gown up to her hip, where she spotted that she was still in her shorts, and upon closer investigation, she was still in her form-fitting tank top. Rathering the thought of hobbling around in her saggy skin revealing clothes than the hospital gown that screamed 'LOOK AT ME', she carefully pulled it off over her head. It wasn't so bad, since Serah's clothes were the tight-fitting ones, so it hit most of it from view, anyway.

"Better get going before she thinks better of it." Serah spoke quietly, gingerly pulling herself to her feet. Putting weight on her injured leg made pain sear into life, however as she spotted what looked to be a pair of crutches propped up innocently against the edge of the bed, she chose to ignore all evidence of the pain. This was going to kill her arms – she knew it, but there was no other way around it – Sohpia would throw a fit if she found out the stitching in her thigh had torn.

Pain shot through her arm as she pulled herself up onto the crutches, however she fought to ignore it as she began to crutch her way across to the door of the medical room. Now was as good a time as any to go and see Lord Death, and there was practically no chance of her bumping into anyone on the way there. The door opened, and closed without difficulty, and as Serah began to make her way down corridors and through smaller passageways, she began to wonder if her sense of direction had been addled – after all, her head felt like she knocked it hard, and as she paused to check, there really were bandages wrapped around her head. She couldn't help but frown as she continued on her way – she really needed to know what the hell had happened to her. Lord Death was undoubtedly watching if he wanted to see her about it – and it was a painful thought just thinking about it – she probably screwed up so badly he had decided to relocate her to a more simple class.

Crutching her way around another corner, Serah almost came to a halt as she noticed three forms approaching on their way out; Three forms she indeed did recognise. The two red tops and the black suit was all she needed to recognise the person she kept on embarrasing herself in front of, and as she lowered her head, placed her gaze on the floor in front of her, she began to make her way onwards with a little more haste – she recognised this corridor – The Death Room was just around the corner!

"You alright, Serah?" Came the familiar, more serious voice of the two girls, belonging to Liz as she managed to get past them, causing Serah to blink momentarily, however she kept going.

"Just dandy." She managed to speak, picking up the pace just a little bit so she could be gone faster. Silence met her statement, and as she made it around the corner, Serah could feel at least a little better at the fact that she didn't make a complete fool of herself that time – just her injuries were on display …

Reaching the door to the Death Room, Serah hesitantly placed her right hand upon the doorhandle, hesitating for several moments, before she turned it, and pushed the door open. There was a little resistance, however, it wasn't enough to unbalance Serah. She gazed into the bright room for several moments, before she began to make her slow advance to the middle of the room. A familiar black form was seated in front of a mirror, and Serah had to make herself continue onwards as the form of Lord Death turned on his little seat in front of the mirror.

"Serah! What a wonderful surprise!" The bouncy voice of Lord Death spoke, and Serah had to blink as the grim reaper suddenly bounced up and down on his spot, and she came to a halt just at the edge of the large platform. "You must be exhausted being up and about so soon! Come, sit down here!" Serah bit down on her bottom lip as Lord Death motioned to a second cussion next to a coffee table she never noticed was there. She hesitantly obliged, setting her 'aquired' crutches on the floor next to her. "Now, how are you feeling? That was quite a feat you had yesterday!"

"Feat?" Serah repeated, and she saw the energetic Grim reaper tilt his head to the side slightly.

"Oh? You don't remember?" He asked, causing Serah to shake her head slightly. "Well, you managed to defeat a Kishin Egg, rather luckily, but you defeated one never the less." Serah's gaze narrowed upon the bandages over her hands, before she looked back up at the bouncing Grim Reaper.

"So I did defeat a Kishin Egg?" Serah asked hesitantly, and she felt that there was the tiniest of smiles behind the mask of the grim reaper.

"Yes, with your own weapon too! But I have been meaning to ask you about that."

"Umm, yes, Lord Death?" Serah spoke, and she saw the Grim Reaper grab what looked to be a cup of tea from the coffee table that was of the same design as his mask.

"I was watching the whole fight , so I'd noticed you had trouble fighting with your own feet – do you remember anything about that?" Serah blinked momentarily, loolking back up at the Grim Reaper as she thought on her reply.

"You mean my clumbsiness?" Serah took to asking, however she saw Lord Death tilt his head to the side slightly.

"No, I belive your clumbsiness is from you arguing with your body – It certainly didn't look like misplaced steps or anything remotely related." Lord Death bounced slightly as he took another sip of his tea. "No, it looked like your body would automatically try to run one way when the rest of you would want to go in completely the opposite direction – Stein came with the same conclusion by the end of it."

"P-Professor Stein?" Serah spoke hesitantly, and she saw Lord Death nod slightly. She had to think on it a little while. In reality, she never paid conscious mind as to where she was going – because she was always engrossed in a book of sorts, her body just seemed to go on Auto Pilot, and take her wherever it was that she was going, whether it be to the academy, or somewhere back home in Chicago. "I've never had a problem with it, until I decide I have to head in the opposite direction, or something like that. I walk to the Academy and back everyday, but I'm always reading a book, so I'm never actually thinking of where I'm going or anything. I've been doing that since I was able to walk to kindergarten … I think."

"Ah, I thought so." Lord Death spoke, causing Serah to look up at him. "I thought the amount of conflict was too severe to be anything else. Well, we'll have to do something about that."

"Like what?" Serah asked hesitantly, and she saw Lord Death place his cup of tea back down on the coffee table.

"Nothing too drastic – Just an extra class, just for you!" Lord Death spoke, and Serah glanced down at her bandaged hands after a few moments.

"What? Like gym class or something?"

"Pretty close! Dance class!" Lord Death spoke, so suddenly that Serah was left gaping at him.

"... Dance Class, Lord Death?" Serah spoke, and she saw the Grim Reaper bounce from something along the lines of excitement.

"Yes, yes! Dancers are the masters of their own body, and with your little difficulties, I believe whole heartedly that you'll be able to get the hang of it in no time at all!"

"In due respect, Lord Death." Serah began, choosing her words wisely as Lord Death tilted his head to the side again. "I thought my becoming a meister was just to keep me busy until someone who could weild me came along?"

'Yes, and that's absolutely correct!" Lord Death spoke, causing Serah to blink momentarily. "But that could be days, or it could be years! You might even decide you like being a Meister altogether, and not bother with finding a Meister partner! And to be honest with you, we've had weapons go about and collect their own Kishin Eggs before – You're just the first one we've given a replica weapon!" Blinking slightly at the amount of information she was just bombarded with, and as she let out a breath, she saw Lord Death bounce once again. "So don't worry about it – Even Weapons need control of their own body!"

"I see ..." Serah spoke, looking down at her hands once again. She did have a vague impression that she was the one that put the nice injuries into the palms of her hands.

"Now, it's getting late, so why don't you head back and sleep on it." Lord Death spoke, and Serah looked back up at him again. "I'll send someone in with a change of clothes for you, so you can go back to class in the morning."

"S-sure." Serah spoke, and she saw Lord Death spring up onto his feet suddenly. Struggling a little bit to get to her feet, Serah carefully set her crutches in place so she could make her way back to the medical facility.

"Well, take care on the way back – And thank's for visiting!" Lord Death spoke, causing Serah to smile slightly as she looked back up at him.

"I will." Serah spoke, and she carefully turned to head back to the medical facilities. Crutching away with the sounds of Lord Death calling 'Bye' to her in that funny toned voice, she was a little bit absent minded as she came to a halt in front of the door. Pausing momentarily to set the right crutch under her arm to free her arm up, Serah reached out for the doorhandle, when the most unfortunate thing occurred.

The door swung open all of a sudden, inwards for some reason, and as the fact of the door suddenly hurdling towards her face came to her feeble notice, a faint gasp escaped her in the moment the edge of the door hit her square in the face. Whoever was on the other side of the door gasped as they realised they'd hit her with the door, and as the force of the hit to the face sent her backwards hard enough to hit her head with a loud thud, the faintest of voices suddenly errupted as her vision blanked.

"Are you alright –?" Came a faintly familiar voice as the pain shot through her head in flickering shots, and white swirls danced in front of her closed eyes. The tiniest thoughts that passed through her mind as she slowly lost consciousness, was the cursing that her luck had been sucked up by fate once again.


	9. Carnation

_**CHAPTER NINE: Carnation**_

Conscious came to Serah as suddenly as a door being slammed into her face as the sounds of movement began to echo through the corridors the next morning, her still swirling and uncomfortable vision making it difficult for her to identify that it really was morning. The sunlight filtered onto her face brightly through the open window to her left, and as Serah slowly rubbed her eyes with the fingertips of her right hand gently, a sudden sharp pain shot through her forehead. She was back in the medical facility, and as she looked around groggily, she realised that she had somehow gotten back after hitting her head back in the Death Room.

So how did she end up here after she blacked out? Serah wasn't sure, but the person that had probably slammed the door into her face was probably the one who brought her here – whoever it was. Serah wasn't going to go out of her way to find out who it was – unfortunate accident or not, there was no reason to go bringing it up – the person who did it was probably feeling guilty, so there was no reason to pry. She let out another weary breath as she dragged herself upright carefully, and after a well chosen glance to the table just next to the bed on her right, she looked to see a magenta over-the-shoulder bag that resembled hers – It even had the little yellow broach that was of a baby chicken just beneath a tear along the right pocket. So whoever was bringing her belongings had been and gone. This made her wonder what the time was.

"Hey, Serah?" Came the vaguely familiar of the current Nurse, causing Serah to look over at the curtain to the right as a silhouette stepped into view. The curtains parted slightly for the silver-haired Sophia to poke her head through to look into the cubicle, and Serah saw her smile slightly. "Good, you're awake. It's a little after nine – maybe you'd want to get organised now?"

"Oh!" Serah almost exclaimed, leaning over to grab her bag from the table almost immediately. "Class's started already?"

"A while ago, but I let Stein know you were still recovering from your most recent injury." That caught Serah's attention – She looked up at Sophia hesitantly, confusion plastered across her face.

"Injury?" Serah repeated, and she saw Sophia smirk slightly.

"You've got a lovely purple bruise running down the centre of your forehead – Lucky you've got a fringe, right?" Serah let out a weary breath, ruffling her fringe momentarily as she began to get organised, as soon as Sophia had disappeared on the other side of the curtains again. Getting changed into a pair of _new _shorts and a baggy long sleved, sky blue shirt, Serah had to focus as she pulled her shoes on – She could wear both, it wasn't gonna do her any problems. As Serah began to zip up the now lighter bag, she heard the curtains of the cubicle suddenly slide open, where Sophia came strolling in, with the pair of crutches from the night before in hand.

"Now, you'll have to use these for the next week, until the stitches have had time to do their work." Sophia spoke, passing the crutches to Serah carefully, watching as Serah carefully began to drag herself to her feet. "They're already sized for you, so just be careful – not too many stairs, or I'll have to piece you back together again."

"Yes, Ma'am." Serah spoke quietly, centring the over-the-shoulder bag carefully before she stabolised herself with the crutches again.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow morning, before class." Sophia spoke, and a grin crept across Serah's face as she began to make her long and hobbling journey to class. Serah did begin to wonder who had gone into her house and gathered her a change of clothes that morning – It was all a little too strange for her to take in all at once. Corridor after corridor passed by, and as Serah reached her classroom with a faint breath, she lifted a hand to make sure her rather pointless fringe was in place to at least veil half of the bruise – Just offset it so it wasn't like a neon sign was pointing directly at her forehead. She stuck her head into the class, to see that a few people were here – a couple of people she'd never spoken to before, the two called Tsubaki and BlackStar, and as Serah looked over at her seat, she saw someone that had taken notice of her rather suddenly – Liz was seated between Death The Kid, and Patty, and she was waving at her slightly – as a 'Hello'?

Well, Serah had managed to appear during the five minute recess between classes, and as she let out a weary breath, she began to make her way into the class. The bag knocking against the back of her knees was disorientating – Moreso than normal – but she percervered – Her seat was barely ten meters away! Beginning to make her way up the steps on the far side of the room to avoid bumping people, it was a little longer before Serah reached her seat – and in the time it took for her to hop over to her seat, a few other people had arrived back to class, and were chatting rather noisily. She let out a breath as she finally reached her seat, sitting down almost as soon as she could manage. Just getting to class was tiring, and Serah knew it was from the crutches – She did walking every day – far more walking than this; So how could she be worn out if not for the Crutches? Proceeding to place her bag and crutches on the floor beneath the bench, Serah set herself in for another two classes before lunch.

Drifting off into thoughtless apathy, Serah vaguely watched as people continued to file back into class. A few people she didn't really recognise offhand, and then, as Serah let out a faint yawn, a voice suddenly called at her from the door of the classroom. Blinking slowly at the sleep that had formed in the corners of her eyes, Serah rubbed her eyes as she looked down at who had called out to her. Two familiar forms were standing at the door, Soul and Maka, and as Serah smiled faintly, she saw the two beginning to make their way up to the benches. The lack of an MP3 player was beginning to get to Serah – she could hear all the bothersome chatter that meant nothing to her, and as she heard the sounds of people taking seats directly behind her, she leant backwards and smiled up at the two that were leaning forward to look at her over the bench.

"How're you feeling, Serah?" Maka spoke, her face looking quite entertaining from the angle of 'upside-down'. "You weren't waking up when we found you, so I was worried."

"I'm fine!" Serah spoke with a grin, ignoring the distortion the stretching of her neck muscles was causing to her voice. "Don't remember anything, but everything's good!" An alarmed look crossed both Maka and Soul's faces, and Serah had a hard time taking them both seriously at that moment. "Don't worry! Lord Death's filled me in on everything."

"Oh, okay." Maka spoke, and Serah continued to smile as Soul chuckled slightly, and sat back, so he was gone from Serah's view. "So did Lord Death give you the Kishin Egg yet?" Blinking slightly, the grin fading from Serah's face as she thought on that.

"What Kishin Egg?" Serah asked, earning a look of mild confusion from Maka as a familiar rolling of plastic wheels began to come to notice.

"The soul of the Kishin Egg you defeated? You're a weapon, so you're supposed to collect them to turn yourself into a Death Weapon, remember?" Serah continued to blink, and as Maka's expression became far more concerned, Serah felt a smile break out across her face.

"Maybe because I failed so epically, I'm not getting it?" Serah guessed, and as Maka opened her mouth to speak her reply, a suddenly loud and familiar voice began to speak.

"Take your seats – I'm taking attendance." Came Stein's voice all of a sudden, and as Serah blinked in shock, she sat upright again as Maka sat back down in her seat.

Class continued in a normal manner – Serah was left sitting with her chin resting upon her arms folded out across the bench in front of her as she stared towards where the blury blackboard was as Stein continued his lecture upon particular techniques gainable through soul Resonance with up to eight different people. People in class chattered quietly amongst themselves, the few that were smart enough to answer questions doing so, and while all this was normal, there was one thing that _wasn't _normal. Through the whole of the class, Serah could feel a glance flick to the right side of her face constantly. It wasn't normal – if anything, it was Maka glancing down at her momentarily. Serah bit down on her lip as the gaze hit the side of her face once again, and as she hesitantly managed a glance towards where she could feel the glance coming from, she noticed that a particular symmetry obsessed young man had been staring at her for the whole class.

Feeling more than a little self conscious now, Serah snapped her gaze straight ahead, feeling a tinge of colour touch the sides of her face as she tried to forget that the young man was now staring at her with a piercing gaze. Why the hell did he have to be staring at her? Did she do something wrong and upset him, or something? Her mind reeling, and her nerves stirring uncomfortably with the tangent of her thoughts, Serah could feel herself chewing on the inside of her bottom lip – she'd deal with whatever repercussions that would leave her with later – this wouldn't be the first time she'd end up gnawing at her lip until it was raw and bleeding anyway.

"And that just about concludes this Lesson." Stein's voice cut in over the reeling of Serah's haywire mind, snapping her the tiniest bit out of that uncomfortable mode of thought. Blinking blearily, Serah looked around the class as several people let out yawns, and others mere began to gather their belongings up. "You can go to lunch now, but we'll be finishing the analysis of resonance bouncing afterwards." Resonance bouncing? That was a strange term – Had Serah been reeling for so long that she missed something crucial? Following suit, Serah began to gather her belongings up in an attempt to force her mind to something else. Would Stein mind if she went home, though? Serah was strangely weary, and even though she was sure it was just because of the crutches, she did feel that she'd be better off if she just went home and recovered there overnight. In her own home without the feeling of someone coming to check on her while she was sleeping.

That brought her to another train of thought – where the hell was her pink bag and MP3 player? Surely she wouldn't have gone on an extra lesson without them? Music was in her blood, and oh how the lack of background music was beginning to drive her insane! Managing to rise to her foot, Serah reached down to take hold of the crutches that were lying on the floor beneath where her feet had been. Pain shot through her body, as she expected, however she forced it from her mind as she focused on _not _falling flat on her face – She was just lucky that the few people that sat to her left had gone elsewhere while she was getting herself organised. Maka and Sou seemed to have bolted from the room before Serah could have said anything, and as she carefully straightened up, she noticed from the corner of her eye, that Death The Kid was still sitting in his seat – Why the hell was that!

_Never mind … _Serah thought hesitantly, beginning to make the long and tiresome treck down the flight of steps that really wasn't that big to begin with. Her leg wasn't broken, and yet she still had to wander around on crutches for a few days! Talk about unfair!

"Serah – Hold on a moment!" Came a voice she didn't quite recognise offhand, however it still startled her – her crutch slipped on the step below, and as a faint squeak escaped her, she actually felt her right hand manage to catch the edge of the benches just next to her, halting her next unfortunate accident. Blinking rather furiously against the pounding that was her racing heart, Serah took a deep breath to try and settle herself; It would be just like her to manage to save herself from falling, and then give herself a case of hyperventilation from the fright. Footsteps from right behind her brought back the knowledge that _someone _who she didn't know offhand had called out to her, and as she managed to turn around on her only stable foot, she felt the akwardness of her thoughts before engulf her again as the person who called her, turned out to be the black-clad son of the Grim Reaper that had been staring at her the whole time in class, as he came to a stop a couple of steps away.

"Y-yes?" Serah spoke hesitantly, keeping her hold on the bench next to her as she blinked up at his pale face – Once again, she was slammed with the knowledge that he'd never spoke to her, except those few times she'd worn something that was apparently horrendously out of symmetry. What did he want all of a sudden? Clearly there was something, cause he _had _been staring through the whole of class.

"I know this may come as a shock to you -" Death the Kid began to explain, a hasty tone to his vocie as he fidgited for some reaosn. "But I wanted to apologise to you for last night." Silence overcame Serah's state of mind as she stared up at Death The Kid, a lack of comprehension overcoming her as she tried to figure out what he was talking about. She didn't bump into him, just went past on her way to the Death Room – she'd know if she bumped into him again.

"Sorry?" Serah finally spoke after several moments, however Death the Kid, or 'Kid' as she'd heard people call him before, seemed to look a little more uncomfortable at her confusion.

"Look, I'm sorry for slamming the door into your face- I didn't mean it, and …" Just like magic, Serah could feel a deadpan look creeping up onto her face, but as hard as she tried, she couldn't stop it from creeping into place.

"You – what?" Serah managed to speak, and she saw discomfort creep across the strange man's face.

"I'm sorry – I forgot to ask my father something, and I didn't realise anyone else was in there-" Death The Kid proceeded to explain, and Serah still couldn't seem to get a hold of herself – she could feel that her eyes were wide, and she most certainly was confused as anything, but she still couldn't seem to comprehend what he was talking about – until she remembered the bruise upon her forehead from the door last night. Embarrasment set in on her as she realised a few people that were still in the room were staring – people she didn't actually know, and she fought to keep her squeak of fright from escaping her. Oh god, this strange person was making a scene – she had to end it before more people kept on staring.

"O-oh! I remember now!" Serah spoke quickly, feigning a smile as the strange young man suddenly fell silent, a strange look creeping across his face for some reason. "Seriously, just forget about it - I'm always falling down stairs and everything anyway; It's no problem at all!"

"Really?" He spoke, and Serah actually blinked in surprise as she heard something like 'awe' in his voice. "You mean it?"

"Of course!" Serah spoke quickly, that feigned smile becoming a little wider as she forced herself to keep it in check. His lack of response was her signal to bolt – and she was most certainly going to take that chance as she saw him continue to stare at her, his expression continuing to become brighter and brighter for some reason. "But I've gotta go -" Serah spoke quickly, managing to turn a bit on her only stable foot, however she glanced back at the still silent Death the Kid. "-Sorry." She didn't wait for a response, forcing herself to hop down the rest of the steps as fast as she could without falling, and as she managed to get her crutches back in place, she managed to 'turbo' her way out on the crutches with a strange lack of 'accident'.

Liz stepped down the couple of steps to stand just next to Death the Kid, a momentary frown written across her face as she looked down at her Meisters face. He had one of those expressions that she'd seen across his face on the few occasions he saw something that was not off balance, or perfectly symmetrical, in his words. He stared after Serah's disappearing form with such a look of awe, and probably glee, plastered across his face, and as Liz let out a weary breath after a few moments, she glanced at the few people that were still in the class – they were all now minding their own business.

"You certainly out-did yourself." Liz spoke, and it seemed that Kid snapped out of whatever state he had been in – he looked at Liz over his shoulder, however that bright expression still remained. "You didn't have to terrify the poor girl, you know."

"You don't understand! She had the most symmetrical smile I've ever seen!" Kid suddenly exclaimed, causing Liz to let out a heavy, exasperated breath as she realised he'd completely missed her point. "Do you have any idea how impossible it is for someone to smile with that much symmetry?"

"No, Kid. I don't." Liz spoke, crossing her arms as she fixed Kid with a look of boredom. "How about _next _time you go to apologise to her, you _not _freak her out like that?"

"You're completely missing the point, Liz!" Kid grumbled, his look of awe fading to make way for a more familiar look – irritation. "I've never seen a perfectly symmetrical smile before – Never!" Instead of replying, Liz let out another breath of exasperation, beginning to follow her now 'lecturing' meister out of the classroom as Patty suddenly appeared with a loud giggle. It was probably a good thing Kid hadn't noticed Serah's eyes were noticeably two different colours – if he did, he would have flipped out; and permanently terrified an innocent, and very shy Meister.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

Serah let out a breath as she arrived back at home, gazing up at the front door as she began to make her way up the two rather small steps. Her heart was still racing from all of that confusion that had slapped her silly back in that classroom, and as she dug through her bag for her housekeys, she noticed something to her left from the corner of her eye. Taking to unlocking the door, Serah glanced down at the 'out of ordinary' as she pushed the door open. A rather colourful envelope was placed in the small makeshift mailbox attached to the side of the door, causing Serah to blink in confusion. She managed to grab hold of the pink and orange envelope mid-way through hopping through the front door. She was relieved to be inside now – the events of the day were more than enough to put a strange dampener on her onlook for tomorrow – and the young Grim Reaper suddenly apologising to her out of the blue was enough to make her feel at least a little awkward about going to class again.

Serah closed the door behind her, beginning to make her way towards the kitchen straight ahead as she began to think on what she was going to have for dinner – anything except for instant Ramen would be good. She hoped she remembered to stock the fridge before she went on that extra lesson. Discarding the annoying crutches to the wall next to the door, Serah hopped the rest of the way to the kitchen counter. She managed to hoist herself up onto the colourful countertop, sitting down just next to the barfridge. Well, she'd might as well find out what was in the envelope – she did recognise the handwriting from somewhere – something about how the F looped in with the Y in a strange manner.

Serah gently tore the envelope open, pulling out the small piece of equally as bright paper from inside. There was nothing else inside the envelope, as Serah checked, telling her it was just a letter, or something. All handwritten – The paper was made of the same print as the envelope, and the strange looping handwriting was all through the paper. She carefully unfolded the piece of paper, her weary eyes tracing the words with weary care.

_Serah,_

_I hope this letter finds you well; Goodness, know I've missed  
>you so much over the past year.<em>

_I just wanted you to know that I'm doing well, and I've placed  
>some more money into your account for you. I want you to<br>spend it however you feel necessary; I know you're a smart  
>enough girl to put it to good use. Also, I've sold the house;<br>and Andrew's half is also sitting in your account. I didn't feel  
>right in keeping it, after everything that's happened.<em>

_Please, take care. And I'd love to hear from you for once,_

_Lots of Love,_

_Heather_

Serah stared down at the letter for several moments, biting down on her already tender bottom lip. She let out a breath after several moments, crushing the letter in her hands suddenly as she tore her eyes from the lopping handwriting. Silence echoed for several more moments, as Serah looked over to the dustbin beneath the counter on the opposite side of the kitchen. She threw the paper into the bin without a second thought, another breath escaping her as she then placed her gaze upon the window next to the fridge. A tension formed in the pit of her stomach as she slowly thought to herself, ridding her of the desire to actually eat anything.

"Idiot ..."


	10. Mayonaka No Door

_**CHAPTER TEN: Mayonaka no Door**_

The sunlight was a piercing brightness against Serah's face as she slowly came to. For a Friday, it was strangely warm, and the sunlight was a hot touch against her weary eyes. Today was the day she could ditch the cursed crutches -Sohpia had given her the Ok after yesterday's visit. It was about time, too – Serah's hands were aching after every few steps, because of the gashes to the palms of her hands. And on another awesome note, Serah could pick her glasses up today – which meant she could actually read what was written on the black-board in class, now. Her memories had come back to her after a good night sleep at home after that rather exhausting day, including how she screwed up so bad in France.

Serah dragged herself up off of the couch slowly, looking around the ever-normal loungeroom with an air of confusion – she hadn't even gotten herself to bed before she passed out. She got to her feet wearily, finding, as she began to walk to the bedroom, that there had been a reason for Sohpia's order for the crutches – every step she took on that leg had her thigh sear in pain. Serah glanced down at the bandages on her leg slowly, her gaze falling upon a small patch in the bandages where a few flecks of blood began to sink through. Well, she did tear the stiches through her mad-dash away from the strange young man called Death the Kid, so undoubtedly it would take longer for her leg to heal – it was just a good thing that the inside of her injury had healed enough to have her walk freely now.

Getting changed into a pair of karki brown shorts and an orange spaghetti strap tank top carefully, Serah began to pull on her long-since-missed magenta converse shoes – walking around in flip-flops cause of the crutches was more than annoying, and she always felt it was rather rude to walk around in the academy with practically bare feet. She hoped things would start improving – she'd heard from Stein that Lord Death was arranging for her to have those 'dance' classes replace her after-lunch classes starting with this afternoon; Which meant it wasn't some form of joke the grim reaper had decided to tell her, like she'd hoped. The more pressing question was, who was going to be teaching her in this 'subject'? Serah wasn't sure, but she couldn't think of anyone that would be prominent in the art of dancing, no matter how hard she thought about it.

Oh well; Serah guessed there was no use thinking about it – She'd find out who it was come afternoon classes. She knew Maka would be wondering what was going on – after all, Serah had been so embarrased about everything once she actually remembered everything, that she didn't want to even mention anything about it.

Grabbing her 'smaller' shoulder bag after a few moments, Serah grabbed the largest nectarine in the fruit bowl on her way past the kitchen counter to the loungeroom. Serah paused for just a moment as she slung her new red shoulderbag over her shoulder, looking at the many books on the bookshelf for several moments, before a large paperback novel with a silver and green spine came to her notice. She let out a sigh as she grabbed the practically untouched book, and began to leave the house as she took a bite out of her nectarine. Supposibly, there was a test on today, too, but Serah wondered if it was going to end up falling upon her missing class time. If that was the case, would Stein end up making her take the test during lunch? The door shut behind her with a rather loud clunk, and as Serah heard the lock click into place, she carefully opened the book and held it open carefully with one hand.

"Serah!" Came a familiar voice after a few moments, causing Serah to blink in mild-surprise. She looked up from the book she'd only just read the first word from, to see the familiar forms of Maka and Soul standing several meters down the path, Soul standing as normal, with that 'cool' air he clearly must have desired, however Maka was just waving with a smile across her face. Well, that meant reading was out of the equasion now – and as Serah thought about it, she was supposed to be _stopping _herself from going on autopilot mode, as a voice in the back of her head said a few days ago. She couldn't help but smile wryly as she carefully put her book into her bag.

"Hi!" Serah called out, and she saw Maka grin broadly as Serah came to a momentary halt in front of them.

"You're not bringing your crutches?" Maka asked, and Serah couldn't help but smile broadly.

"Nope – I'm free!" Serah spoke, and she saw Soul grin as Maka smiled a little broader.

"That's good – how's your arm, though? Still giving you trouble?" Maka asked, causing Serah to blink momentarily, before she glanced down at her still-bandaged arm.

"Well, it's just gotta heal." Serah spoke simply, taking another bite of her nectarine as Soul and Maka began to lead the way to the Academy. "Oh, I gotta stop at a store before we get to the academy, that alright?"

"Really?" Maka asked, confusion in her tone of voice. "Why's that?"

"I pick up my glasses today." Serah answered through her mouthfull of nectarine, and she saw Maka smile once again.

"Cool – So you're not gonna borrow my notes anymore?" Maka giggled slightly as Serah frowned momentarily, however she didn't say anything.

"Hey, you know it's your turn to cook tonight." Soul spoke to Maka after a few moments, and as Serah continued to munch on her breakfast, she looked around slowly as Maka began to speak with Soul.

After a quick detour to the glasses store, Serah followed Maka and Soul to class while she looked over her brand new pair of glasses – this time they had an aqua tint to them for some reason, but it didn't matter that much as they made her eye colours match a bit better. The frame was a magenta this time, causing Serah to frown momentarily – why was the frame on these ones the same colour as her shoes now?

"They suit you." Maka spoke as Serah put her glasses on, catching the young woman by surprise – Serah blinked in mild surprise, however she smiled slightly as she looked around the area again. Everything was a lot clearer now – it looked like things were gonna be back to normal now; Thankfully. As they reached their classroom, however, Serah could feel a sense of foreboding she'd been experiencing over the past couple of days – since she came back to class, really. However, she had a very good idea as to why this was – after all, Death the Kid had been staring at her over the past couple of days _since _he'd apologised to her.

"Great." Serah spoke under her breath as she saw the familiar sight of Death the Kid, Liz and Patty seated in their usual spots – This meant it was another day of her feeling Kid looking at her on and off through classes. The familiar sounds of the rolling of a wheelie chair came to Serah's faint notice, and as she began to head up the steps to her seat at the row in front of Maka and Soul, she saw that Liz was waving slightly at her – The young woman had taken to saying Hi to her every day, it seemed. Did the appearingly bitter woman actually like her or something?

"Alright Class." Came Stein's voice just as Serah had managed to take a seat, catching the attention of most of the class almost immediately. Serah looked down at Stein, who wasn't holding a book for attendance, or anything. What was going on? "Today's classes are free studying – The test's been put on hold for now; But that doesn't mean you're off the hook." Serah blinked in mild surprise at this information, glancing at the other people in class off to her left for a moment.

"That's weird." Serah heard someone speak, however she looked back at Stein as he began to leave the room on his rolling wheelie chair.

"Oh, and Serah?" Stein called on his way out, causing Serah to remain silent and motionless for a few moments. "You're to be at the Death Room at the end of last class." Serah nodded slightly, however she was still slightly confused; Stein still disappeared from the room, and as the rolling sounds of his wheelie chair vanished from notice, Serah let out a weary breath. Well, maybe it was better this way – realistically Serah should have spent _some _time learning how to use her circlets before she went on that extra lesson; now might be a good time to actually get onto that – However she couldn't remember what happened to her circlets; And her MP3 player was still missing on her.

"Hey, Maka?" Serah spoke, looking up at the Scythe Meister as she leant forward over the desk. Serah chose to turn around on her seat, where she sat more comfortably. "You have any idea what happened to my circlets and Music player? I can't find them anywhere."

"Circlets and MP3?" Maka spoke slowly, and Serah nodded slightly, observing the thoughtful expression that crept across Maka's face.

"Yeah, I had them when I went with you and Soul to Paris, remember?" Serah commented, and it was a few moments later when Maka seemed to remember, for she seemed to smile sheepishly.

"Oh, yeah. They're in my room – I forgot to bring them to class again." Maka said, a slight giggle in her voice as Serah sighed slightly. Straight back the way they came, it seemed.

"Well, at least they're not in France." Serah commented, a sheepish smile creepign across her voice as she looked back up at Maka. "Can I grab them from your place soon? I kinda need them today."

"Oh, really?" Maka spoke, surprise touching the tone of her voice. "What're you doing then?"

"Well, Professor Stein said we had the day to do whatever we wanted towards studies, right? I was gonna go and get some practice in, so I don't slice a hand off next time I'm in France." Serah spoke, tilting her head slightly as Soul seemed to frown momentarily from his seat. "And … I'm kinda losing my mind without my music player."

"Oh!" Maka spoke, and almost instantly it seemed, she adopted a rather concerned look. "You're taking a first-aid kit, right?"

"Excuse me?" Serah almost coughed, horror creeping across her face as she stared up at Maka, who suddenly looked rather apologetic.

"It's just, I'm not saying you're terrible, but … I kinda know your hands were your own fault …" Maka spoke, her tone hesitant; Serah had a hard time believing that Maka had just said that.

"I'm _not _that clumbsy!" Serah complained, crossing her arms as she decided to pout slightly.

"Yeah, you are." Soul commented without hesitance, and as Serah blinked in shock, she saw him smirk slightly. "Not even Maka's smacked her head into a door before." Serah continued to stare, and her shock began to fade as she tried to figure out what Soul was referring to – After all, she'd never smacked her head into a door … Hang on – "You've still got the bruise running down the left side of your face."

"I do not!" Serah squeaked incredulously, however Soul suddenly began to laugh – Was this his idea of a joke?

"Just ignore him – It's barely even there." Maka spoke wearily, smiling momentarily as she got to her feet. "Come on, if you've gotta practice, then we'd better get your stuff for you."

"Great." Serah spoke, rising to her feet carefully as she carefully slung her red bag over a shoulder. She began to squeeze past people on her way out, smiling slightly as Liz said 'see ya' as she stepped past.

"Oh, so what's going on with these extra classes of yours?" Maka asked as Serah paused on the bottom step to glance over at the blank blackboard. "When're they starting?"

"Oh!" Serah spoke, looking back at Maka and Soul over her shoulder, to see that they were still coming down the steps. Serah blinked as she saw Death the Kid look over at her, and as she was about to wave hesitantly, she saw him snap his gaze away from her suddenly. She decided to ignore that as she looked back at Maka – who was now standing just in front of Serah, causing her to begin to start walking again. "They replace last class every afternoon, I think."

"So they're not actually extra classes, but replacement classes."

"Kinda." Serah spoke, and she smiled sheepishly as she looked back at Maka momentarily. "Well, they are. Last class doesn't actually teach me anything, so I'm just sitting there bored all afternoon, waiting for the bell to go."

"So this class is supposed to stop you from falling over and crashing into things, huh?" Soul spoke thoughtfully after a moment, and as Serah looked at the white-haired man as he strolled with his arms folded behind his head, he seemed to stop himself from laughing. "What? Is it gym class?"

'No ..." Serah spoke, hesitating as she looked at Maka and Soul, who were walking to her right. "Dance lessons." Almost immediately, Soul was laughing, and Maka as smiling sheepishly, which made Serah frown at the two of them. "Come on! It's not like I asked for Lord Death to give me Dancing Lessons, alright?"

"I'm sorry." Maka spoke, still smiling sheepishly as she elbowed Soul in the ribs sharply, cutting his laughter off suddenly. "It's just hard to imagine you taking dance lessons."

"Yeah, well I didn't ask for it." Serah spoke bitterly, frowning out at the area around her – and she finally noticed that they had ended up outside already, and were already half way back to Maka and Soul's place. "And why's it so funny anyway?"

"Cause." Maka spoke, that sheepish smile creeping back across her face in full force. "Since Lord Death was the one that decided for it …" Serah blinked, frowning with an exasperated sigh as she realised what picture had taken the two's thoughts.

"No, I'm not learning how to ballroom dance with the Grim Reaper himself." Serah spoke bitterly, and Soul had to cough to stop himself from bursting into laughter again.

"Alright, alright! We're sorry!" Maka spoke, however she still giggled. Serah chose to remain silent, falling into a slower walk as Maka jogged up to the front door of their house. Well, at least it looked like she could escape their entertainment now – she wasn't used to anyone picking on her this much – at least she had gotten used to being left alone in that regard. She waited outside as Maka and Soul headed inside, and after what seemed as a few seconds, Serah saw Maka come jogging out, a MP3 player and pair of headphones in one hand, and in the other was a kind of brown leather circle, about the size one of her circlet rings was.

"That was quick." Serah spoke, blinking as Maka smiled as she came to a halt just in front of her. Eagerly taking her MP3 player back, Serah then looked down at the brown leather, which she realised was a case for her circlets – two cases actually. Serah carefully took hold of the chain that joined the two circlet blades, discovering that there had been changes, and that the little links weren't as sharp as they used to be. "What's with the case?" Serah asked as she looked back at Maka, to see her smile once again.

"Stein made changes to your weapon for you, so it's not as sharp – I think the case is so you don't trip and hurt yourself that way either." Serah let out a weary breath, smiling slightly as she swung the circlets a little.

"Of course." She spoke, looking down at the 'sheathed' weapons, and a smile crept up across her face. "Well I can at least practice swings and all that with the cases on."

"Oh, what're you doing tomorrow?" Maka asked suddenly, catching Serah by surprise.

"Nothing, I think." Serah spoke thoughtfully, pulling her headphones over her head after a few moments – the return of the headphones was already making her feel better. "Why? Something up?"

"No -" Maka spoke, smiling as Serah pocketed her MP3 player carefully. "I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out with us for lunch?" Serah remained silent for a few moments, looking back at Maka as she contemplated how busy she was going to be tomorrow. Realistically, she had thought about reading for a little while, then probably getting more practice in, whether it be for her new classes, or just working on swings, she wasn't sure.

"I dunno." Serah spoke after a few seconds, smiling sheepishly as she saw Maka blink momentarily. "I didn't think too much on it – I might be getting some more practice in. Ask me tomorrow?" A smile crept across Maka's face, and Serah wondered why that was.

"Alright." She spoke, smiling a little more as she then began to head back to the house. "If you've got practice, then I'm not gonna keep you. Have fun!" Maka spoke, and a few moments later, the front door had shut behind her. Serah remained silent and motionless, looking down at her circlets as she thought. Well, suppose she'd better do something before those new classes of hers. A smile broke out across Serah's face as she pulled her MP3 player out of her pocket, pressing play as she began to walk off towards her house – there was no reason for her shoulderbag.

Mayonaka no Door began to play through the headphones with a favorably loud volume, and the sweet ranges of bass, causing a grin to plaster itself across Serah's face as she pocketed her MP3 player once again – she never realised just how much she was missing music until that moment.


	11. Arue

_**Yeah, I**** know.**_ It's been forever, right?I'm sorry about that. I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to do anything I've wanted. But of course there's not really enough good reasons for me to explain, so I hope you'll take my sincerest apologies. I hope there are still people who are interested in reading. Anyway, here is chapter Eleven, titled after a particular song by Bump Of Chicken - a really good song, I highly recommend it. This particular chapter doesn't have anything major in it, but it's still key to this story. I will have some more writing uploaded at the end of the week - if nothing else goes wrong. I like having a chat with people, so if you feel inclined, then feel free to message me about anything =). Now please enjoy, and let me know your thoughts, okay? Josaphina Sluik.

_**CHAPTER ELEVEN – Arue**_

Why was Lord Death placing so much attention into her? Serah wondered as she began to trudge up to the academy, touches of golden hues of sunset beginning to wash over everything within sight. The aqua tint to her glasses made everything look like a darker shade of brown, however her peripheral vision picked up the golden hues, making everything seem strange. Serah couldn't seem to understand why the Grim Reaper, who had over a hundred other students attending his academy, would spend so much time in helping her development into a fully fledged weapon. It didn't make any sense to her – she didn't have anything to do with his son, really, and she'd only been attending the academy recently – why was it that the Grim Reaper was giving her so much special attention, despite the fact that she was probably the most useless weapon in the whole of the academy.

A voice in the back of her head told her that this might be the reason; But why would that be? True, Serah wasn't actually recruited like many of the other students; She actually searched the Academy out of her own free will, and it was a miracle that Lord Death had immediately told her to make her way over. On that train of thought, Serah wondered if it was because of her mother; who happened to be a fully fledged weapon, who retired once she'd been born.

Three forms appeared into Serah's peripheral vision as she began to climb the last of the steps, snapping her out of her thought almost immediately. Because of her glasses, everything was darker than it should, and as Serah glanced up at who it was in front of her, she couldn't help but once again, feel awkward as she saw the forms of Liz, Patty, and Death the Kid. She prepared herself to just walk past, as she was certain they would do, but as Serah stepped slightly to the side and began to climb the steps again, she saw the Grim Reapers son actually look at her again.

"Good afternoon." He spoke, so suddenly that Serah was actually startled – However before she could even respond, or even react, she was already on the steps past him. She saw Liz smile slightly, Patty giggling away like normal, and as she actually looked back at the three, confusion began to settle in her mind – why the hell was Death The Kid suddenly saying hello to her? Biting down on her lip, Serah forced herself to get back to going to the Death Room – Afternoon classes were about to start, and as Serah forced herself to think of nothing else, she did begin to wonder who her teacher for Dance Lessons was. Even after all her slaving and working, and managing to teach herself through her subconscious how to swing her circlets from the chain, she couldn't stop that conversation about her class with Maka and Soul from creeping back into her mind. And chances were that she'd completely forget everything as soon as she woke up tomorrow morning.

So who would her teacher be? It certainly wasn't going to be Stein; While she didn't doubt his strangeness, she just couldn't pin him to be her teacher. Sid was certainly out of the question, and as Serah thought on one of the lady teachers, called Marie as she remembered, she just couldn't seem to believe that the woman who always complained about not having a boyfriend would be the one to teach her how to stop arguing with her body.

Serah's feet had lead her into the Academy before she even knew it, and as Serah looked up at a rather familiar door of late, she found herself momentarily frowning. She'd spent more time visiting the Death Room than her own home – Serah blinked slowly as she gently pushed the door open, to see two forms standing in the middle of the Death Room next to Lord Death's mirror; One of them was recogniseably Lord Death from the bouncing movements, but the other was a form that she most certainly didn't recognise. Blinking momentarily, Serah chose to continue on.

"Ah, Serah! How wonderful to see you!" Came the ever amusing voice belonging to Lord Death, causing Serah to smile slightly. "You know you're early today?"

"Uh, no – I'm sorry!" Serah spoke, smiling sheepishly as she picked up the pace a little. The person standing beside Lord Death was a young woman, scarcely older than Serah herself – she wondered if this was the person to be teaching her? The young woman stood at a height a fair bit taller than Serah herself, with short, messy sunshine-blonde hair and a pair of chocoloate brown eyes set in a rather angled face. Her clothes were a pair of black skinny jeans and a black hoodie; Serah certainly didn't know what sort of person was standing before her, but she guessed she was about to find out.

"It's no problem! In fact, I'm glad you came in early!" Serah remained silent as she came to a halt a few paces in front of the Grim Reaper and the young woman, her eyes shifting from one, to the other, then back again.

"Ah, so you must be the young weapon I'd heard so much about." The young woman spoke, her voice rather upbeat and spunky, which caused Serah to blink momentarily. "I'm Amanda Morrison – I'm gonna be your tutor for these replacement classes of yours; Nice to meet you."

"Y-yes!" Serah spoke, blinking nervously as she glanced at Lord Death momentarily. "It's nice to meet you, too."

"Amanda used to be one of our Weapons in the academy quite a few years ago, so I'm sure you'll be able to learn a lot from her." Serah blinked, looking back at Lord Death as Amanda giggled slightly.

"Yeah, yeah. An academy drop-out." Amanda spoke, and Serah remained silent as the young woman looked back at her. "So you all ready to go?" Serah merely nodded as she glanced at Lord Death momentarily – she was wondering if this was some kinda joke or something – but by the way Lord Death bounced like normal, and how casually the whole situation was panning out, Serah had to assume that things were right on track.

"Then you two should get right to it!" Lord Death suddenly spoke, causing Serah to blink momentarily. "The room is still locked, however – Did I give you the key, Amanda?"

"Yep, all good. Catcha tomorrow!" Amanda spoke, and Serah was left a little confused, however, just as Amanda began to head off, Serah looked back to Lord Death.

"B-Bye Lord Death." She spoke, beginning to follow Amanda's disappearing form.

"Bye! Have fun!" Lord Death spoke, his voice just as bouncy as ever – Serah had a hard time making sure she didn't lose track of what was going on. Jogging to actually catch up with Amanda, Serah blinked momentarily as she saw that the young woman was already at the door, and she was waiting for her.

"S-sorry!" Serah spoke, her feet sliding on the floor slightly as she slowed down, causing Amanda to smile for some reason.

"Don't worry about it. So, you're having fun here?" Amanda questioned, causing Serah to blink momentarily – they began to head off, though Serah was a little confused as Amanda took a corridor Serah'd never gone down before.

"Yeah, kinda." Serah answered, looking around carefully – the glasses were doing strange things to her vision, of course, so she had to make sure she knew where she was going and all that. "It's more or less just sitting in class all day taking down notes …"

"Ah, I see." Serah heard Amanda say in a somewhat knowing tone of voice, and as she looked back to the young woman in mention, she was a little surprised to see that she was standing in front of a door Serah didn't actually recognise offhand. Blinking momentarily as she tried to think, Serah stopped just next to Amanda, who seemed to be smiling to herself as she fiddled with the lock on the door – why was the door locked anyway? The key in her hand didn't seem to be working all that much either.

"So … why'd you leave the Academy?" Serah couldn't help but ask, and she saw Amanda smile at her for just a moment.

"That's a bit of a personal question, considering we've just met." Amanda spoke, a humerous tone in her voice as the lock finally opened, and Serah was left a little surprised. She didn't realise there'd been a personal reason from the way Amanda and Lord Death had spoken – but that went momentarily frowned upon, as Serah realised Lord Death was scarcely anything but bouncing and happy, and not the very least bit careful with particular words – at least appearingly anyway.

"I'm sorry." Serah spoke, and she took to watching as Amanda opened the door and pocketed the lock.

"Forget about it – it's nothing." Amanda spoke, and as she walked into the room, Serah hesitantly looked inside. The room inside turned out to be a room practically identical to the classroom that Serah sat in every day, except for two things – the rows of benches and seats were absent from this room, and there was no bench where the lecturer usually stood at the front of the class – it was just one giant, open room with the same walls and blackboard as the other classroom.

"S-so ..." Serah began, looking back at Amanda over at the opposite side of the room as she seemed tp remove her black hoodie jumper and place it on the floor next to a previously overlooked bag. A red tank-top contrasted against the woman's tanned, and athletic form noticeably. Serah blinked momentarily, slightly envious of the way Amanda's skin didn't sag in the places her own skin did. "What're we starting with tonight?"

"Nothing, yet." Amanda spoke, straightening up and turning to face Serah. She fidgited slightly at the woman's answer. "You're still recovering from injuries you got on an extra lesson, right? It's not a good start to overwork the body during the healing process. Just a few stretches, and a little excersise."

"Oh." Serah spoke, watching as the woman took a seat just beneath the blackboard. "So … what're we doing then?"

"Have you eaten yet?"Amanda questioned, ignoring Serah's question it seemed – however she wasn't sure. Taking to shaking her head slightly, she saw a smirk creep across Amanda's face as she reached over towards her bag she'd brought. "Cool, then it's totally fine if you share with me."

"U-uh, I think I'm-" Serah began, however she fell silent as Amanda just laughed.

"Come on, if you're worried about gaining weight, you'll work it off later." Amanda teased, however Serah remained hesitant for just a moment, biting her bottom lip as she watched the strange, blonde woman.

"A-actually … that's what I really was worried about." She replied, however, she obeyed as Amanda patted the floor just next to her for a moment. Sitting down against the wall just next to Amanda, Serah frowned just momentarily as a large mug of what looked to be a potato and chicken soup was placed in her hands.

"You did strike me as one of those girls who'd fret over a few grams." Amanda spoke, laughing slightly as she poured herself a mug of the soup. Serah avoided the reaction of frowning in response to Amanda's statement, staring down at the soup as she remained silent. "Its better to eat something before training like this – You don't end up wearing yourself out so fast. It's also good for concentration." Amanda spoke, taking a rather large gulp of the soup as Serah looked up at the windows over on the far wall. The warmth from the soup was flowing into her hands, making the cuts beneath her bandages sting slightly. However it was more of an ebbing feeling, moreso than a sharp jolt of pain. This really wasn't what Serah'd imagined 'Dance Lessons' to start off like.

"Can I ask you a question?" Amanda's voice cut in through Serah's train of thought, causing her to look at the blonde woman after a moment. She seemed to have an amused look across her face, however she was still fussing with her soup-items.

"Y-yes."

"You're in the same class as Lord Death's Son, right?"

"You mean, Death The Kid?" Serah spoke – it wasn't really a question, but more of a statement. Amanda seemed to blink in surprise, before she laughed to herself.

"So that's his name? Kinda weird." Amanda commented, looking back at Serah after another gulp of her soup. "I was just wondering if he's as weird as I've heard. Like, obsessed with crazy stuff? He was probably something like eight when I was going to the academy, so I've never met him."

"Yeah." Serah answered without too much hesitation, leaning back against the wall as she finally took a sip of the soup Amanda'd given her. "He's obsessed with Symmetry – to the point where he'd fall to pieces if any form of symmetry was ruined. I've even seen him burst into tears in class over it." Serah explained, a sigh escaping her as she took another sip of the soup – There was no way she couldn't notice it when it happened – after all, if one considered the seating arrangement … "He's a lunatic – There's no other way I can put it."

"Oh." Was all Amanda seemed to say, as if she was rather surprised by Serah's answer. Serah remained silent, her gaze tracing the floor before her as she sat through this akward silence that had suddenly decided to descend upon them. "So ..." Amanda began, placing her soup items onto the floor after a few moments. "You're glasses – do you actually need them to see?"

"No." Serah answered, letting out a breath as she leant forward slightly. "They're just for reading, but I leave them on cause I'm usually reading _something." _

"Good." Amanda spoke, stretching slightly as she placed her cup down on the floor next to her. "You won't be needing contact lenses for this."

"But I feel more comfortable wearing them." Serah hedged, seeing Amanda smile slightly as she rose to her feet.

"Would you like to fork out a couple hundred dollars every week just to get them replaced?" Amanda asked, causing a frown to creep across Serah's face. Most certainly not, this pair wasn't even a day old! "I didn't think so."

"So … how long are these classes going to run anyway?" Serah asked, watching as Amanda stepped into the middle of the open room. She saw the blonde woman begin to stretch after a moment, blinking momentarily as she guessed she probably should start following suit.

"Three hours every day – you'll be home after eight every night. But today you're with me for about an hour." Amanda explained, causing Serah to quickly drink the rest of her soup, before she rose to her feet. She carefully removed her glasses, setting them on top of her bag as she heard the faint cracking of joints from where Amanda was standing. "If you're not one for late dinners, you might want to bring something with you – I usually bring soup with me whenever I'm doing something like this."

"Okay." Serah spoke, watching the strange woman as she began to bend backwards to stretch her back muscles – Though she didn't do the same; Knowing Serah's luck, she might fall over and crack her head on the floor.

"Oh, and you'll want to just wear a pair of shorts and a tank top – no tights or nothing, got it?" Amanda added, causing Serah to flinch – No tights? How was she going to hide her sagging skin if she wasn't allowed to wear them!

"Why's that?" Serah managed to ask, causing Amanda to look at her after a moment.

"Cause you'll be working up a sweat, and believe me, you don't wanna walk home with sweaty tights." Amanda replied simply, causing Serah to pout to herself. It made sense … but she'd rather deal with sweaty tights than saggy skin for show. "Anyway, since you're up, we should get started so you can head home sooner." Serah slowly nodded, biting down on her bottom lip as Amanda turned around so she was facing her.

This certainly wasn't how she expected Dance lessons to start off like.


	12. Lost Child

_**CHAPTER TWELVE: Lost Child**_

Dawn came so suddenly that Serah felt like she hadn't managed to get any sleep at all; The Dance Lessons seemed to take forever, for some reason, leaving a weariness in her bones that just wouldn't leave. Ignoring the sunlight shining onto her pale, and rather blank face, Serah let out a weary breath as she stared up at the ceiling of her bedroom. There were no classes today – a Saturday, and one Serah was determined to enjoy. She stared for a few minutes, wondering what it was that she was going to do for the day – even lying in bed as she was, she knew for a fact that she probably didn't have it in her to practice anything today, even though she really should.

"I haven't read a book in a while." Serah spoke, slowly turning onto her side to face the window to her right, where she slowly closed her eyes once again. This was true – what with everything that had been happening of late, there was practically no ability she had to read a book; After surviving a Kishin Egg's attack, then waking up the next day, and then dance lessons, there was a lot going on that drained Serah of her free-time. She'd been so preoccupied that she didn't even remember that she never received that Kishin Egg soul from the extra lesson, and even if she did, she probably would have decided that she wasn't going to get it. Minutes passed, before Serah dragged herself out of bed. Now that she thought about it, she could go to her favorite cafe, and read a book while she sipped on a glass of mango juice. While not the most productive way to spend her day, she felt it was probably the most fulfilling way she could spend it – after all, on Monday, she was returned to classes, and dance lessons were going to be in full-force then; Since Amanda inspected the leg-injury, she decided that the injury would be healed enough to work properly next lesson.

Judging by the way the sun was gloating as it laughed in that creepy way, Serah surmised that it was probably just after eight in the morning – and the cafe she liked would already be open. For living in a desert, the days were warm, while the nights were a freezing cold, even in winter and summer, this was the same. Serah dragged herself out of bed after a few moments, a faint yawn escaping her as she began to search through her clothes. Since it _was _a Saturday, and a day off to add to the mix, Serah decided she could wear something a little more delicate than her usual outfit. As she pulled on a pair of medium teal tights with bright blue trim, Serah decided on the little sky-blue spaghetti strap dress she had hanging in her wardrobe. However, as she looked down at her arms, she noticed the sagging skin of her upper arms, and despite that it was barely noticeable to other eyes, she quickly snatched up a skin-tight, long sleeved shirt, and pulled it on before she added the dress. She rolled the sleeves up to her elbows, looking down at the familiar bandages that wound up her forearm.

Serah let out a breath as she carefully removed the bandages, looking down at the gash that had only just begin to heal; Even in the sunlight as intense as it was, she could still see the pink tinge that edged the wound, and the tiniest hints of silver that was the mending skin. The suchers that held the two pieces of skin together so they could heal back in place were a familiar sight, due to the amount of times she had to re bandage the injury. Thankfully, a paper-thin scab began to sew across the gash, signifying that it was finally beginning to heal properly. She still felt irritation from the day that she got that, but she had time to cool down – she just hoped that brat would leave her alone if he did actually see her. Opting to leave the injury to get some air, Serah began to gather her belongings quickly – after all, the sooner she left, the sooner she could get to do something she loved. She quickly pulled her usual converse shoes on as she glanced out at the window; She didn't have any plans or anything for dinner – it would probably be a good idea if she did look at it on her way home. She made a quick attempt at selecting a particular playlist on her mp3 player, before she made her way into the other parts of her small house.

After a quick moment to collect her book, keys and purse, Serah closed the door behind her quickly as she took a step before she turned to face the door; As she carefully locked the door with her keys, a glimpse of pink and orange snapped up Serah's attention rather quickly. She looked down at the makeshift mailbox as the 'snip' of the door's lock clicking in place echoed quietly, and, as she bagged the keys quickly, she carefully picked the envelope up with her left hand. The familiar sight of the looped handwriting with a strangely connected F and Y was a thorn in Serah's side, however she begrudgingly slid it into the back cover of her hardback novel she had tucked beneath her right arm. Deciding not to be bothered with it now, Serah hopped down the front steps, and began the ever-familiar walk through Death City, and towards her favorite Cafe. There weren't too many people about for a Saturday morning, Serah noticed as she walked past Maka and Soul's place. Usually, the streets were a lot more crowded than this – was it possible that she'd woken up earlier than normal? She _did _wake up before her alarm woke her for once …

Serah's music player clicked over to Pre-Parade, and she could feel her mood begin to pick up as she picked up the pace. She liked the upbeat mood in the song, and it did wonders whenever she felt irritation or bitterness beginning to take hold of her. Something was eating at her though – Serah couldn't put her finger on what, but there was something that just prodded at her the longer she persisted with walking to her favorite cafe – had she forgotten something? She knew it wasn't because of that cursed letter she'd hid in the back cover of her book, that was for sure.

No matter – as Serah placed her gaze to the cafe situated around a fountain down a street to the right, she found herself with the intentions to brush aside her concerns; If she couldn't figure out what it was, then it probably wasn't that important to begin with. There was just two people sitting at the tables that surrounded the cafe, and plenty of free tables for her to chose from. Her favorite place was taken up, though, much to Serah's disappointment, however she noticed her other place was left free – A spot beneath the amethyst coloured umbrella next to the actual fountain. She paused for just a minute at the counter to order a drink, then, once she'd collected her Mango Juice, she made her way towards the empty spot. The stone wall her seat leant against was nice and cool against the warmer air of the desert, cooling the breeze that swept past without any real difficulty. It was also a spot that was out of the way, if not more or less hidden from view.

Letting out a breath, Serah placed herself in the small crevice between the fountain and the wall, her gaze slowly shifting down to her book as she took a sip of her Mango Juice. What was she going to do if she didn't improve, even with these Dancing Lessons? Yes, Lord Death, and even Amanda both seemed convinced that she'd be brought up to speed pretty quickly with the lessons – But of course Serah wasn't convinced. Fingertips tracing the edge of her book, where the corner of that bright, and irritating envelope scratched against her skin, almost as if taunting her with it's presence. Serah had a hard time not crushing the envelope into a scrunch of paper and throwing it away without so much as reading it. Why was the woman sending her letters all of a sudden, anyway? Serah wasn't completely certain, but the woman had never sent her any letters before now; It was strange, and not only that, uncomfortable for Serah to think about.

Finally, as the irritation of the envelope got to her, Serah grabbed the corner of the envelope with the pinching motion of her index finger and thumb, before she pulled the envelope from it's hiding place with a rather careless tug; The paper that formed the top right corner tore a little, revealing an equally as colourful page inside, much like the last letter she'd received. While she had the intention to just be rid of the letter in it's entirety, Serah couldn't help but let out a sigh as she decided she really had better see what the woman wanted this time. Pausing for just a moment to place her book on the table in front of her, Serah then gently slid her pinky finger into the small tear of the envelope, and proceeded to tear the side of the envelope open, much like one would do with a letter-opener. She carefully pulled the page out from the envelope, frowning to herself as she used her free hand to push her glasses back up the bridge of her nose.

_Hi Serah,_

_I hope you're doing well for yourself – I don't hear from you, so I  
>have to just hope that you're making things work where you are<br>right now. I really do wish you'd send me something just to let  
>me know you're alright.<em>

_I visited Chicago today to complete the final transactions with  
>the house – The new owners have a little girl, about as old as<br>you were when we met; It reminded me of how much I really do  
>miss you. I was thinking of visiting you; You know, to see how<br>you're going out in the big world all on your own. I do worry  
>about you. I do have some things I want to talk with you about –<br>Things I'd rather not put in writing; I don't even know if you're  
>getting these letters. <em>

_But it's important enough were I'm going to arrange to fly over  
>and visit you - Are you still in this 'Death City' Andrew mentioned<br>all those years ago? I never believed him when he told me he  
>wanted to send you there; A place called 'Death City' was just<br>way too strange for me to believe back then. I guess, with  
>everything that's happened, I learned to understand.<em>

_I'll bring some Sherbert Toast with me – You still love that stuff,  
>don't you?<em>

_Please, write back,  
>Heather<em>

A shadow appeared over the letter before Serah had even finished the last line, causing a blank look to cross her face. As she realised that someone was standing right next to her, Serah snapped her gaze to who was standing right there as she hid the letter from sight. Maka was standing right there, in a white dress with a pair of sandals – it must have been warm weather for Maka to wear something out of the normal. Serah blinked, and as she saw Maka beginning to speak, it was in that moment that Serah realised the headphones were still playing in her ears. She quickly put the letter back in the back cover of her book as Maka seemed to grin.

"... that means you're free today, right?" Maka's voice came as soon as Serah had removed the headphones, causing her to lift a questioning eyebrow.

"You'll have to repeat that, I completely missed half of what you said." Serah spoke, and she pointed at the headphones as Maka gave her a confused look.

"Oh, sorry!" Maka spoke, smiling sheepishly as she shifted on her feet. "You said to ask you today about hanging out for lunch – Remember?" Serah blinked as she thought, and she could feel a fractional smile across her face. Yeah, she did say that to Maka – Everything just seemed to drag her attention elsewhere today, Serah noticed. It was warm also, and early – she could get practice in later if she really wanted to.

"Sure, I'll hang. But I don't have anything to contribute to the lunch-hang out." Serah spoke honestly, and she saw Maka smile even more.

"Don't worry about it. We've got plenty, cause of Black-Star's eating habits." Maka spoke, a little pointedly when it came to Black-Star mentioned. Serah thought for a few moments, before she forced a smile to creep back across her face again, while all she wanted to do was curse. And here she thought she'd be able to avoid the annoying brat for the rest of the week. It also seemed like it wasn't just a small lunch hang-out like the last time in the academy.

"Alright, if you're sure." Serah spoke, and she saw Maka smile even more.

"Yep! I'm sure." Maka replied, causing a faint breath to escape Serah. Gingerly, she picked up her book once again, before dragging herself from the seat; It was only then that she noticed that Soul was nowhere to be found. How strange – The white-haired male usually hung around with Maka all the time, much like how all weapon and meister were; But Serah wasn't exactly complaining – It was a nice change. Picking up her mango-juice, Serah then proceeded to follow Maka away from the cafe, and onwards to Maka's place. It was just handy that the cafe served all their drinks in take-away containers; Considering how expensive the Mango Juice was from there, Serah'd be upset if she had to either down it without enjoying it, or just leave it there.

"What is that stuff, anyway?" Maka asked, eyeing the drink in Serah's hand with a strange expression. "Looks kinda weird."

"Mango juice, they call it." Serah answered, holding the cup a little higher so Maka could see properly. "It's more of a mix of purè mango and soda water with mint flakes. Kinda an acquired taste. It's for those that don't like straight sweet stuff."

"Sounds different." Maka spoke, putting emphasis on the word 'different', which caused Serah to giggle slightly.

"It's actually really nice. You wanna try?" She asked, smirking slightly as Maka's rather disgusted look was enough of an answer to her question. "In any case, if Black-Star's there, who else is gonna be there? I know Souls gonna be there."

"Well, mostly everyone I hang around with. Tsubaki, Kid, Liz, Patty – Oh, and Crona and Ragnarok are back, so they're coming too." Maka began to say, causing Serah to drop her gaze down to the ground after a few moments. Death the Kid … How she found that one to be problematic of late – Not so much that there were problems; Just that she could never understand how to deal with him, what with one moment him not even acknowledging her existence, then all of a sudden the next moment, he was apologising to her and going all weird. That's also disregarding yesterday evening when he said hi when she walked past him – Serah wasn't sure what to make of that one, so she preferred to ignore it for now. "Why'd you ask?" Maka questioned, causing Serah to smile slightly to herself.

"Oh, I was just wondering, after all, you should know I don't hang with anyone except for you, and Soul sometimes."

"Oh, I forgot to ask you-" Maka spoke, a smile across her face as she looked back to Serah. "How'd dancing lessons go?" Serah blinked, looking away from Maka as she thought on how she was going to word her response.

"Well, it was okay." Serah spoke honestly, glancing a the now confused Maka. "I just kept on tripping over my own feet all the time when we weren't sitting down and talking."

"Ah, so Lord Death's right! If you get the hang of it, your going to get better!" Maka spoke, and as Serah thought on it for a few moments, she had no real choice but to agree; After all, in that class she tripped and fell more than on that extra lesson with the Kishin Egg. Serah shuddered as she thought back on that Kishin Egg.

"Maka!" Soul's voice suddenly exclaimed, causing Serah to blink in confusion as Maka merely frowned. As Serah looked over towards the left side of the street, she realised as she saw Soul's approaching form that they'd already arrived at Maka's place. "What the hell's going on?! Why's Kid and Black Star in the house?!"

"I told you yesterday! We invited everyone over for lunch." Maka replied, irritation echoing in the tone of her voice. It appeared Serah's presence had gone unnoticed, which was not a problem for the young girl in the least – As she tried to come to grips with what Maka and Soul began to argue over, the colourful letter in the back of her book went completely forgotten, and hidden within the back of the book.


	13. Ripple

**[Authors Note]** Hey everyone! I'm back with the first installment of Down Into My Shadow in quite a long while. This is Jozei – I changed my Pen Name to MuffinxXxSyndrome cause on the other sites I used Jozei or my name on, I copped a lot of harassment, so this will be my pen name until everything cools down T_T . Anyway, I'm sorry about my lack of updating anything for quite a long time. I won't bore you with any reasons or excuses, cause I'm sure it's the story you're here for, haha. This chapter seems a bit small – at least to me it does, but I checked it through word-check and it came up with a normal amount of words for a chapter. For all of those who have been asking about the M rating I've put on all of my work, this chapter will start hinting at it. Anyway, please enjoy, and _please _let me know what you think of the story so far – I'm hoping some feedback will help me get back into the Soul Eater stage of writing.

_**CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Ripple**_

Sunlight filtered in through the window of Serah's bedroom, inflicting irritation to the young woman who currently remained in the bed beneath the window. For the most part, there was nothing that should bother Serah, aside from the sunlight that was shining brightly onto her sleepy face. However, as she groggily opened her eyes to stare up at the ceiling above her head, she was left feeling a little frustrated. It wasn't so much the sunlight – in fact, it didn't register to her that the blinding light was even shining on her. While she liked hanging out with Maka whenever the opportunity arose, she wasn't comfortable with the events of the afternoon beforehand.

"Why did I agree to that?" Serah asked herself, her tone dripping with a weariness that was unrelated to the fact that she'd just woken up. Her fingertips shifted within the sheets of the bed slightly as she tried to straighten her thoughts, however her irritation was proving to be a problem with thought-arrangements – In fact, the more she tried to rearrange her thoughts, the more frustrated she became.

Letting out a breath after what seemed like a few minutes, Serah dragged herself out of bed with as little care as she could manage. No evident pain shot through her body as she placed her weight on her injured leg. The stab-wound was still a little tender if she placed too much weight on her leg, however, the skin had sewn itself shut, and all that was left was the large scab of dried weep and crusted blood – Not that there was very much she could do about that. All her injuries she'd left unbandaged when she went to sleep last night, and it seemed her decision had done her a world of good; the gashes to the palms of her hands were practically just large, and ugly scabs, and the gash along her arm had healed further than she thought it would have. That meant she could have a shower like a normal person, instead of sponge baths, like she'd been doing. And she decided she needed a shower – after all, it might relieve the frustration that continued to build up on her.

Grabbing a pair of black leggings, long sleeved, orange shirt, and denim shorts before she left the room, Serah found herself with her gaze upon the floor as she walked – She couldn't seem to shake the frustration from her, no matter how hard she tried. She just found herself returning to the same train of thought; Why did she agree to that? She disliked the fact that she couldn't stop thinking about yesterday's events, but there was nothing else she could really think about. It was like the whole predicament had jammed her thinking processes, forcing her to just remember that unfortunate event like it was on replay in her head. Serah guessed, after all the knocks to her head over the past week, she'd probably sustained some form of brain damage. She couldn't help but sigh at her thoughts, as she stepped into the bathroom, and shut the door.

The room was veiled in a pitch darkness, until Serah's fingers found the light switch and pressed it; A fluorescent light flickered a few times, before illuminating the room with a bright glow of burning white. The room was mostly empty, aside from a bathtub along the wall to the right, with a cabled shower head attached to the wall, and a sink sitting innocently next to the bathtub. The room was coloured in an arrangement of artichoke green walls and chocolate brown floor, which made one feel more claustrophobic than normal. The mirror that lined the wall around the bath tub didn't help the situation. Tossing the clothes onto the sink, Serah gently turned the cold water on as she then began to strip down. A warm shower _would _be better for her injuries, but as Serah gingerly climbed into the shower of cold water, she found her frustration beginning to leave her as she cooled down. She didn't bother to pull the curtain around – She didn't live with anyone; Realistically she could walk around the house naked if she wanted to, and it wouldn't matter.

As the minutes passed, Serah drew her gaze to the mirror that lined the walls of the bathtub. Her own reflection stared back at her, as if mocking her for some reason. While she wasn't frustrated anymore – Thanks to the cold water – she wasn't exactly feeling energetic. Her gaze kept on shifting from her oddly coloured eyes, and to the overstretched skin of her stomach. While it was obvious to her that her skin was still several sizes too big for her, Serah could see that it was beginning to heal; The many stretch marks that lined her stomach had shrunk, just a little, and her skin seemed to fit a bit better on her, however she still couldn't feel any better about it. The skin around her thighs, and her bust wasn't much better; While her legs looked like she had an unhealthy level of cellulite, she had many stretch marks over her chest, making her feel more than self conscious. But amongst most things, today, it wasn't actually her overstretched skin that bothered her. It was her eyes; While she was never self conscious about her eyes, the events at Maka's place had given her more than a reason to be self conscious from now on. As Serah rest her head against the wall, she felt her eyes close as she drifted off into thought.

_Black*Star's loud and obnoxious voice rang through the whole house with more volume than was necessary; Serah had a hard time maintaining a rather unphased disposition, despite the fact that she was under constant concerns that she'd soon be spotted by the self-righteous brat. She sat uncomfortably at the table in the lounge room, her fingers curled tightly around her Mango-juice as she looked from Maka over in the doorway, and to the energetic Patty that sat on the chair opposite Serah. She knew she didn't fit in with Maka and Soul's group of friends, but it was made blatantly obvious how much she __**didn't **__fit in at that very moment. Everyone was busy speaking with everyone else, and of course Serah felt like she may as well spend the rest of her life as a wallflower. _

"_Here! Everyone dig in!" Maka announced all of a sudden, catching Serah by surprise. As she looked up at the Scythe Meister, she saw that the young woman had placed what looked to be a huge plate of assorted foods; Miniature pies, pastries and everything else that fit in with such foods; Of course, with Serah's pickiness with food, due to her weight paranoia, there was nothing here that she felt comfortable eating without the fear of weight-gain. As she thought about it for a few moments, she found herself disliking Amanda's remark about her fretting a little more. While Serah was an appropriate build, sota speak, she felt she had more than enough right to be particular about what she ate. _

_It was understandable that since Maka was the host, she'd be busy doing Host-like things, however it didn't make Serah feel any better – if she had of known she'd be sitting here all alone like this, she'd have politely declined Maka's invitation. Of course, it wasn't like Serah was trying to make conversation with anyone, anyway. _

"_Oh! Wow!" Came a somewhat child-like voice all of a sudden, practically frightening Serah out of her skin; As she directed her gaze to where the voice had come from, she found herself face to face with the small, energetic Patty. The energetic blonde was leaning right over the large plate of food Maka'd brought out, to gaze at Serah's face at an uncomfortably close proximity; She was no further than a foot away from Serah's face, which of course caused the peach-haired woman to shrink back in alarm. _

"_Wh-what?" Serah managed to ask, blinking momentarily as Patty continued to lean closer to her._

"_Patty – Stop it!" Liz barked from somewhere off to the right, however Patty spoke, as if her sister hadn't uttered a single word. _

"_Are your Eyes funny?" Patty asked, as if Serah was suddenly the most interesting thing she'd seen all day. Serah, unable to figure out what exactly was going on, frowned marginally as she stared at Patty._

"_Y-yeah, they are." She answered, letting out a breath as the situation finally made sense to her._

"_Can I see properly?" Patty asked simply, and it took Serah a few seconds to understand what the blonde was asking. Hesitating for just a moment, she let out a breath slowly as she raised her hands to pull her reading-glasses from her face._

"_Sure." She spoke, wincing slightly as she felt a few strands of her hair get caught in the arm of her glasses. Blinking momentarily as Serah raised her head to look back at Patty, she found herself immediately regretting it at the young girl let out a delighted squeak._

"_They're different Colours! That's so cool!" Patty announced, loud enough that Serah felt certain everyone in the building had heard. _

"_What'd you say?" Liz piped up all of a sudden, leaning over to see what Patty was staring at. Just as Patty's face lit up with curious delight, Liz adopted a similar expression as she then said "Hey! You're right! So you wear those glasses to hide it, do you?" _

"_Uh, no – Not really." Serah hedged, however all the colour drained from her face as she heard a vaguely familiar voice exclaim "What?!" from right next to her. Hesitantly looking at the person who'd spoken, Serah felt a cold chill shoot through her spine as she found herself face-to-face with none other, than Death The Kid. Horror shot across his face quickly, and as Serah bit down on her bottom lip to keep that squeak from escaping her, she noticed that shakes had begun to take hold of the young man. _

"_Oh no – Serah-" Liz began quickly, however she was drowned out as Death The Kid suddenly burst into a nervous fit Serah'd only seen twice in her time at the Academy._

"_Why are your eyes different colours?!" Death the Kid suddenly wailed, and before Serah knew what had happened, he'd grabbed her by the shoulders and proceeded to shake her slightly. "Doesn't it bother you that your eyes are all wrong?! How can they be diff-" _

"_Cut it out, Kid!" Liz snapped, however in amongst the sounds of Kid's nervous fit, all Serah could hear was Patty laughing, and the faint sounds of Black*Star's obnoxious voice. Serah's gnawing at her bottom lip had become forceful enough where she could taste blood, however she ignored it as she could only feel a form of humiliation begin to overcome her. As Death The Kid's shaking of her shoulders grew more forceful, however, Liz rose to her feet, and finally pried her Meister from Serah with a little difficulty. Her face was burning with warmth as she heard Liz begin to speak, however Serah's body acted at it's own accord, and before Serah knew what had happened, she was walking down the steps of Maka's house, and making her way back to her own home. _

Serah opened her eyes slowly as the chill of the water finally began to make her body ache, staring ahead at the reflection of her blue and green eyes. She once again let out a breath as she thought on that question she kept on asking herself. Why did she agree to it? Probably, because she didn't think it was a big deal to humor the little one. And all because of that, she felt humiliated; it also took all of her strength not to burst into tears in the middle of that unsightly event. Letting out another breath as she straightened up and turned the water off, Serah climbed out of the bathtub carefully, and grabbed her green towel hanging from the rail next to the sink.

She hoped her horrible luck wouldn't make her one day of recuperation into a disaster again.

Finally dressed and organised, Serah looked down at the book she scarcely read the day before as she walked into the kitchen. The book was sitting upon the counter next to the fridge, discarded roughly in her haste to hide in her bedroom the afternoon before. Her glasses were also discarded here in a similar fashion, however they were sitting upon the book, an unfolded arm hanging over the edge of the book, and threatening to fall to the tiled floor. While she stared down at the glasses silently, she found herself wondering if it was even worth the bother of wearing them; She didn't feel like reading anything, so she didn't need them – and if she did decide to wear them, she wasn't sure if it would be out of habit, or a self-conscious problem she began to experience due to the afternoon before.

Deciding to neglect her habits, Serah picked up her purse and keys from the counter to leave for a walk, leaving her 'brand new' glasses sitting precariously upon the book. Some fresh air would probably help her just get over her bad mood; However she knew in the back of her mind, that the topic of her eyes would of course be a tender one for her; At least for the next couple of days.

Locking the door behind her, Serah began to make her way towards the centre of Downtown Death City. She didn't eat anything for dinner, and of course she didn't have any breakfast, either. This guaranteed that there wouldn't be any 'safe' food for her to eat; In fact, Serah wasn't even sure if she had _any _food in her house at all. She was missing her MP3 player, however for the first time in a very long while, Serah just couldn't be bothered in listening to any music; Maybe when she got back home after her walk, she'd make some lunch and just drone out like she usually did whenever something upset her.

However, Serah's thoughts were cut short as she noticed a group of three forms walking in her direction. Liz and Patty were dressed in their usual outfits of red and denim, and their Meister standing between them was in his ever-normal clothes. However, something seemed to stick out of place; Serah wasn't sure of what it was, but she didn't really pay any attention to it as the three noticed she was there. A look much like the one Death The Kid wore yesterday began to appear and as he came to a dead halt, his two companions turned to look at him. As Serah blinked, ignoring the rather apologetic look Liz was now casting her, she finally noticed what was odd about the situation; Well, more odd than the fact that Death The Kid was about to have another nervous fit about her eyes. His socks, undoubtedly the same pair, were slightly mismatching colours, as if he was half asleep when he got organised, and mixed one of his socks with an already worn one. As she began to walk past the trio, she saw from the corner of her eye that Death the Kid had opened his mouth to speak. She chose this moment, to mention one thing to the Grim Reaper's son before he turned to pounce on her once again.

"Your socks don't match."


	14. A Flower Named You

**[Authors Note]** A second chapter in the same day; I'm hoping my success at writing Soul Eater chapters is not due to a lack of sleep on my part T_T Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please let me know what you think of it; Any feedback would be awesome, and will hopefully energize me back into Soul Eater works!

_**CHAPTER FOURTEEN: A Flower Named You**_

Serah's mood was rather chipper as the sunlight from the ever gloating sun began to irritate her eyes. Serah wasn't a hundred percent certain, but she felt that her small sentence to derail Death The Kid's nervous fit onto something else was just what she needed to feel better. While what she did in essence was rather childish and mean, she just couldn't bring herself to feel guilty about it. She'd also ascertained that it was probably the best way to derail any uncomfortable situation with the Grim Reaper's son, which, she planned to do if any said situation arose.

Like normal, Serah stared up at the ceiling of her bedroom for a few moments, before she dragged herself upright, and looked around the room slowly. The gloating sun didn't appear to be too bright just yet – Serah estimated she'd woken up earlier than she usually did. Perhaps it was because she went to bed early feeling happier than she did the evening before? For whatever reason, it wasn't a problem – In fact, as Serah glanced at her bedroom door, she surmised that she had plenty of time to have a shower, get organised, and maybe stop off to pick up some Mango-juice on her way to the Academy – It was a Monday, after all.

One hour later, Serah was jogging up the front steps of the academy, cup of Mango-juice in hand, and headphones in the familiar place over her ears, playing There For You, by Flyleaf at a somewhat quieter volume than normal. Her magenta bag was hanging from her right shoulder, matching her rather worn converse, however she was dressed in a pair of light blue bootleg jeans and a long-sleeved lime green summer hoodie, unlike her usual outfit of minishorts and tights. Serah gently tugged at her haywire hair, for once not really bothered by it as she looked around aimlessly. She never realised how colourful the exterior of the academy actually was – now that she wasn't with her nose buried in a novel every chance she got, she could actually see more of the world around her, ironically speaking.

It appeared Serah'd gotten here earlier than she normally did, too. As she reached the top of the stairs to the Academy, there was practically no one there. Blinking momentarily as she found herself felling just a little confused, she decided to shrug it off. It was Monday, she was sure of it; There was no way she got her days mixed up and it was really Sunday. However, even if it did turn out to be Sunday in some weird, twist of fate, Serah wouldn't actually mind – She did remember that once again she hadn't had a training session with her Circlets since her first dance lesson.

The front door of the Academy was unlocked, reassuring her that she hadn't gotten her day's mixed up. Taking a sip of her Mango-juice, Serah began to drift into thought as she made her way towards her classroom. She did begin to wonder why Death The Kid freaked out so bad over her eyes being different colours. Yes, in hindsight she shouldn't have been surprised that he reacted, but it was more of a shock to her, given the situation. It just didn't make too much sense to her – Whenever she wore anything that was unsymmetrical, he only barked an irritated remark about it; He'd never shrieked about it like it was something blasphemous or anything. Now that she thought about it in a disconnected manner, he made it out as if there was some sort of foul growth hanging from her face.

Song change; Serah blinked, pushing her glasses higher up the bridge of her nose as she noticed a dark form walking down the corridor she was currently walking up. As the deep tones of bass to A Flower Named You by Asian Kung-Fu Generation clicked over, Serah found herself wondering if she'd somehow summoned the person she'd been thinking about; Death the Kid was walking towards her, without his two companions for some reason that didn't really make sense to Serah. However on a second thought, Meisters didn't have to be accompanied by their weapons every minute of every day – that would kinda be creepy. It appeared that the Grim Reaper's son had just visited his father; He was approaching from the main corridor that lead to the Death Room.

Deciding she should probably mind her own business, given the recent events, Serah took another sip of her Mango-juice as she directed her gaze to the many decorative pieces that lined the corridor; Which of course she hadn't known were there until now, thanks to her book-habits she was in the middle of breaking. She could feel Death The Kid's gaze upon her, but she guessed it was out of discomfort – She very much doubted he'd forget her lack of symmetry just because she had her tinted glasses on.

It was hard for Serah to keep a straight face, though; The mango-juice today was rather acidic and over-sweetened, which made drinking it without wincing a hard task – That, and also ignoring the gaze she could feel upon her face with noticeable intensity. Of course, the headphones made it pretty easy for other people to tell she was off in her own world; Even if it was just a guise. Serah chose to remain with the straw stuck in her mouth as she walked, as she slowly sipped on the drink in the hope she'd get used to it rather quickly.

She walked past Death the Kid without a single screw-up, and no hurdles thrown at her by her homicidal luck; As Serah took a rather large sip of her Mango-juice in relief, she quickly found she was wincing at the over-sweet flavor that hit her. However for some reason, she still had the gut feeling that he was looking at her. Oh well, whatever didn't ruin her mood didn't matter; Serah proceeded to bop her head slightly to the beat of her music as she walked.

"Serah!" She heard someone call her name all of a sudden, and while she did know who had spoken her name, she wished more than anything that she was mistaken. Slowing to a halt, Serah looked over her shoulder as 'casually' as she could fake. Unfortunately for her wishes, she was proven right as she saw Death the Kid beginning to approach her rather quickly, and he had an uncomfortable look across his face. Sighing inwardly, and mentally kicking herself for speaking too soon, she kept a straight face as she turned around to face the Grim Reaper's son. Lowering the Mango-juice just as she raised a hand to pull her headphones down to hang around her neck, Serah found herself somewhat confused as he seemed struggle in finding words for some reason – he also had a few strands of hair sticking up in an unsymmetrical manner; The moment he noticed that, he'd freak. She couldn't help but tilt her head to the right slightly as she waited for whatever it was he was going to say to her – However she was more than just concerned he was going to make another symmetry-related remark to her; It was a task for her to keep her expression blank right at that moment.

A frustrated sigh escaped Death the Kid after a few moments, and as he seemed to place his weight on one foot, Serah noticed that he actually looked her in the eye – Oh this was not looking good for her; It was only a matter of time before he snapped again.

"I wanted to apologize to you – For the other day. I acted without any tact, and I understand that my tendencies had upset you." Serah couldn't help but blink as she stared up at the Grim Reaper's son, somewhat astonished over the fact that he was actually attempting to apologize to her. "I will try my best to refrain from careless remarks in the future. But for the past few days, I am sorry." Serah would have assumed it was a rehearsed apology from how formal this one was, however as she thought back just a bit, he seemed rather flustered before he seemed to calm down. He also seemed to be speaking sincerely – In fact, the longer Serah remained silent, the more he seemed to become concerned that she really was still upset, which of course was enhanced by the loose strands of haywire hair. This began to make her feel somewhat guilty of her 'socks' jab she made at him yesterday morning. She did distinctly hear an undeniably horrified cry within a minute of her jab at the time.

After a few seconds, Serah let out a faint breath as she thought about his words seriously; While she couldn't exactly _forgive _him for humiliating her in front of practically half of the class, she did accept the fact that he was sorry. She also gathered that he was trying very hard to refrain from acting upon his tendencies at that moment, given the situation – She saw his right eye twitch for just a moment. She found she couldn't really say anything related to his apology, so she opted to reach up and pat down his haywire strands for him after a brief mention of 'hold still'. Confusion was plastered across Death the Kid's face, however Serah merely let out a breath once again as she took her hand away, and stood flat on her feet once more.

"I fixed your symmetry for you." Serah remarked, inwardly hoping that this would be enough of an indication that she wasn't 'upset' about the scenario anymore; And it appeared to work. The confusion was wiped clean from his face to be replaced with a strange form of relief at her words. However she wasn't entirely sure if this was because of her veiled suggestion, or just because she put his symmetry back in place. But of course, Serah knew it wasn't really her place to figure that out; She wasn't sure on what to do about the situation now, what with the Grim Reaper's son looking down at her rather oddly, for some reason.

"Serah! Perfect timing!" Echoed a vaguely familiar voice all of a sudden, startling Serah enough where she actually flinched. Turning on her heel slightly to look over at who had called her this time, she was rather surprised to see Spirit approaching with a faint smile.

"Y-Yes?" Serah spoke, confusion creeping across her face as the tall, red haired man came to a halt a few paces in front of Serah; She could feel that Death The Kid wasn't looking at her right at that moment.

"Lord Death wanted to see you before class – I think he's got something he needed to speak with you about." Spirit commented, burying his hands in the pockets of his pants as Serah felt more confusion creep across her face. Again? She was missing out on a lot of class time of late.

"Okay..." Serah spoke, looking back at Death the Kid hesitantly, to see that he looked rather confused as well. She took this rather confusing escape out of the awkward situation, to wave slightly in goodbye, before she began to follow Spirit as he made his way back towards the Death Room. It felt rather weird to Serah, that she'd only said two things to Death The Kid in the five or so minutes she'd been standing there. There was nothing that really went through Serah's mind, other than the strange realisation that Death the Kid was much taller than her; She looked down at her free hand for a few moments as she wondered why she was even thinking about something like that! Must be the oddity of the day so far.

As Serah followed Spirit down the two corridors to the Death Room, she found her gaze wandering, as if she was absent minded, and bored – While she had some of her attention on following Spirit, she just couldn't seem to think properly; While the uncomfortable word with Death The Kid was reason enough for her to be feeling a little off, she began to wonder if she was returning to her slump the morning beforehand – if she was, she'd have to go douse herself in a bucket of icy water just to try and relieve her of her mood, like she had Sunday morning. She hoped that Lord Death didn't need her for anything urgeant; if it was, Serah wasn't sure if she could keep up with everything the Grim Reaper was throwing at her.

Suddenly, as Serah consciously looked ahead of her, a sudden force to the forehead knocked the wind out of her; Or rather, she knocked the wind out of herself with what she immediately realised was the door to the Death Room. She raised her free hand to rub her forehead gently as she looked down at her cup of Mango-juice. Amazingly enough, she hadn't spilled it in her collision with the door – Thankfully. While she wasn't particularly enjoying this batch, she didn't want to waste it.

"Are you alright?" Spirit's voice echoed all of a sudden, catching Serah by surprise once again. She nodded meekly as she looked up at the tall man who was standing just to her right. He seemed to eye her curiously for a few moments, before he opened the door to Lord Death's Death Room, and entered. The Death Room was exactly as it always was – Yellow sand with large metal crosses, blue walls with moving clouds; Serah inwardly wondered if there was any possibility that this room would change at all?

Serah had to drag her thoughts away from this train of thought as she closed the door behind her, and began to approach the centre of the Death Room, where Spirit had already ended up. It didn't appear that the matter was too urgent; Serah found herself once again wondering what this could be about? Was it to cancel her Dance Lessons, or something else?

"Serah! How wonderful for you to join us!" Lord Death's voice echoed with a booming volume, causing Serah to smile sheepishly as she picked up the pace – She of course didn't want to upset her favorite adult by not being 100 percent attentive. "How was your first Dance Lesson? Not too boring, I hope?"

"It was alright." Serah answered, coming to a halt in front of Lord Death as she paused for just a moment. "I felt like I was getting worse, though; I spent more time falling over than actually getting better."

"That come's with practice!" Lord Death piped up, causing a faint touch of exasperation to touch Serah's expression – Of course, that was the 'Adult' response to any complaint; She was rather surprised she didn't see that one coming. "Anyway, that's not why I've had you come here today." Lord Death remarked all of a sudden, bouncing on his spot as Serah of course listened patiently; It felt like she was just standing there listening to people all day today, and she was slowly beginning to become a little weary of it. "I have some excellent news for you – Better than what you're expecting!"

"And what would that be, Lord Death?" Serah couldn't help but as, her brow furrowing just the tiniest bit as she tried to figure out what was going on.

"A Part-Time Weapon Partner!"

"... Sorry?"

"Someone's come forward to become a weapon for you! You've got a partner!"

As Lord Death's words sunk in on Serah, it was just a second, before she squeaked out just one word;

"What?!"


	15. Take It Away

**[Authors Note]** Hey everyone! Sorry for the lack of updating. I'm getting back into writing now, though so I hope to have some more chapters written up soon. I don't really have much to say other than please enjoy this chapter, and I hope to hear some feedback from you! Anywho, onto the chapter!

_**CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Take It Away**_

Time seemed to run at an unbarably slow pace at that moment, and not only was Serah confused, she didn't know what to say or do; Staring up at the Grim Reaper, who was now with his head tilted to the side as he tried to figure out what was wrong, Serah wasn't sure if she was even conscious. The uncomfortable apology that Death The Kid had made to her was discarded from her consciousness without so much as any effort, as if the alarming event never happened.

"What's wrong?" Lord Death asked, uncertainty echoing in his voice as he obviously took in the dumbfounded look across Serah's face with concern. Shaking her head slightly, Serah fought to choose her words carefully; Any wrong statement could end in disaster.

"I-I just don't understand, Lord Death." Serah began, pressing her free hand to the side of her head slightly. "Someone's come forward to become my weapon?"

"That's just what I said, wasn't it?" Lord Death asked, but his tone was rather confused; Slowly, as Serah nodded, it appeared that Lord Death had suddenly realised what was wrong with the situation, and bounced on the spot once. "Oh! I never told you we were thinking of finding you a weapon-partner for the time being, did I?"

"Uh – No." Serah spoke, and relief finally began to overcome her as the situation began to settle down. "No you didn't, Lord Death."

"No wonder why you looked scared!" Lord Death piped up, and from the glance Serah took at Spirit, she saw that he had one of those exasperated smiles across his face. "I'd done some thinking since Amanda agreed to help you with Dance Lessons, that you'd probably find it easier to get used to it, if you had a weapon partner! A temporary one, of course!"

"Oh." Serah spoke, letting out a breath as she straightened up on her spot slightly. "So who am I working with now? Do I know them?"

"It's Amanda!" Lord Death responded, and once again, Serah was left more than just a little confused.

"A-Amanda's my new partner?"

"Only after classes!" Lord Death replied, bouncing once again in that manner that usually had Serah smile. "Since you were going to be spending three hours every weekday with her, I thought Amanda would be the perfect person to help you get some experience as a Meister before we send you back out on another Extra Lesson."

"B-but ..." Serah began, biting down on her bottom lip as glanced between the Grim Reaper, and Spirit for just a moment. "What happened to me learning how to use my circlets? I haven't even had them for two weeks yet!"

"You'll still be using them!" Lord Death replied, tilting his head to the side slightly as Serah listened cautiously. "Amanda's weapon-form isn't too different from your own, so you should have an easier time of learning."

"R-really?" Serah began, shifting her weight onto her other foot nervously as Lord Death seemed to look at her in a questioning manner. "Did Amanda have trouble with finding a Meister, too?"

"Not at all. Amanda had a Meister for the whole of her time in the Academy." His answer was prompt, causing more confusion to overcome Serah; She felt she wasn't understanding a great deal of this conversation.

"Oh ..." Serah spoke, biting down on her bottom lip as she tried to think; It was as if Lord Death was forgetting all about how she was actually a weapon, not a Meister.

"What wrong?"

"Nothing." Serah replied, looking up at Lord Death once again; He seemed to be looking at her rather curiously at that moment. "I just wasn't expecting what you'd told me; It's a bit of a shock, really."

"Oh."

"S-so I'm working with Amanda after classes to learn how to weild a weapon properly, as well as Dance Lessons?" Serah asked, nibbling against the inside of her bottom lip as Lord Death seemed to straighten up slightly.

"That's pretty much the situation at the moment. It's not permanent, just until you're up to speed with the rest of your class." Lord Death remarked, however his voice was rather lacking in it's usual bounce at that moment – He sounded more like he was curious about her reaction to his 'good news'. "But Class is about to start, so you should get going."

"Y-yes, Lord Death." Serah spoke, releasing her bottom lip as she took a step back. "Bye ..."

"Thanks for visiting!" Lord Death piped up, however Serah chose not to say anything as she turned on her heel, and began to make her way back to class.

The door to the Death Room closed with a dull thud, allowing Serah to drift off into thought as she subconsciously allowed her feet to do the walking for her – She wasn't 'upset' about the situations turn of events, but moreso, she didn't quite understand why Lord Death had once again changed everything on her. Her first Dance Lesson was nothing to be proud of, and she'd been recovering from the injuries of her first 'Extra Lesson' all this time, so she hadn't been able to do any training, or even attend all her classes. It also didn't make sense to her that Lord Death was investing so much time and interest into her development in the Death Weapon Meister Academy. She wasn't like Maka and Soul, where the Meister was the daughter of one of Lord Death's Deathscythe, and she wasn't actually a friend of his son's. She was just, Serah Fythe, the self conscious weapon who no one wanted to weild. About the only thing that stood out for her was her clumbsiness, and that wasn't even something that should have stood out.

Inwardly, Serah had hoped the news was about a Meister who wanted to weild her; It would make the lack of presence she had to herself easier to understand – It would also feel more comfortable for her to do what she was originally here for.

That also brought Serah to a new train of thought. Why did Amanda come forward to be her weapon? And what kind of Weapon was Amanda? In the small window of time she'd spent with Amanda, she felt that the blonde woman was more comfortable just … doing normal human stuff. There was no real evidence of Amanda being more comfortable having as little to do with the academy as possible, however it was the impression that Serah got. The woman spoke about the Academy without trouble or hesitation, but there was a feel to the woman's words that Serah picked up on. Whether by accident, or it was her imagination, Serah didn't know.

Walking past a bin down the last corridor towards class, Serah didn't even think as she carefully discarded her Mango-juice into the bin. She'd lost all traces of her appetite, and it wasn't like she was allowed to take the drink into class, anyway.

The door of the classroom was open of course, and as Serah hesitantly peered into the room, she found herself a little confused – There was no one inside, and there was no note on the blackboard to tell anyone what'd happened. As Serah stepped into the classroom numbly, she found herself wondering what was going on. Lord Death'd even said that Classes were about to start – Had she missed something important during the last of class she was in last week? It didn't help that Lord Death had given her the afternoon off before her last Dance Lesson.

"What the hell's going on?" Serah wondered out loud, looking around the room slowly as she tried to figure out what she was going to do. Clearly, she was expected to attend class, so it wasn't like she could wander off and just assume no one was coming today. Slowly, as she directed her gaze towards the benches where she usually sat, Serah came to the decision that, like normal, she should take her seat at her designated spot. She didn't have anything better to do, and someone was bound to come back sooner or later – Or better yet, at the start of the next class, everyone would return.

Serah let out a breath as she lifted a hand to raise her headphones back in their normal place, beginning to make the small trip to her usual spot. Savior by Rise Against was playing through her headphones at that moment, and for some reason, it was an appropriate track for her at that moment; Her mood had been heavily dragged down to a lower level; And her mood seemed to need this sort of music to make her feel a little better. She dropped herself onto her part of the bench, leaning forward to rest her head against the varnished wood surface of the desk in front of her.

Her chest hurt; Serah was rather familiar with the kind of pain that she could feel, rather, familiar enough to know that it wasn't a physical kind of pain. A lot had been happening to her over the past two weeks; So much so that Serah felt she was becoming more than just overwhelmed. And when she was overwheled, Serah tended to suffer from chest pains; It wasn't ubnormal for her, at least, when she stopped to think of the woman that had been sending her colourful letters of late. She didn't like to, however. The woman just made her thoughts return to a darker avenue, and of course she wanted to avoid it above most else.

However, despite how overwhelmed she seemed to be getting with everything that's been happening, Serah knew in herself that she was at home here – She just had to learn to take things a bit better. As the track switched over to 'Take It Away' by The Used, Serah felt a curtain of black begin to embrace her as she began to fall asleep.

_Sunlight began to set over the tall skyscrapers of the city, casting sweeping shadows of darkness across the many quiet streets of downtown Chicago as the street lights flickered on one by one. While there were people around, for the most part, the city held a kind of emptiness that sunk through to the soul. _

_A young form slowly made their way out of the closest subway station, long peach coloured hair tied back into a ponytail at the nape of their neck. Their form shadowed by the setting sun wavered slightly on unstable feet, exhaustion clutching at the edges of her consciousness as she fought to remain awake. She was young looking; scarcely older than twelve, it appeared, though one couldn't be sure with the weariness that hung over her like a dark cloud._

_She pushed her long fringe from her face, letting out a faint breath as she straightened up on the front steps to the subway access. Wearing a simple uniform of black track-pants and a black blazer with orange writing upon her left breast, the young woman didn't appear to stand out in a crowd. _

_She glanced at herself in the reflection of a parked car along the pavement, wincing slightly at the girl that stared back at her. It appeared the exhausted image was something of an affront to her, however she paid no real attention to it as she began to walk south along the pavement towards what was presumably home, a small black backpack embroidered with the same design as her blazer resting neatly against her lower back. _

_The girl was pale, and her different coloured eyes stood out quite dramatically, however it didn't appear to bother the young woman; She made no attempt at hiding her strange eyes, nor did she make any real attempt to fade from the views of those around her; She just continued on her way, as if she was the only person left in this place that had something to do. _

_One by one the streetlights flickered on as she walked, illuminating the sidewalks and parks with incandescent light. However changing light didn't seem to bother her; Likely she was used to walking these streets at such late an hour. _

_The sun had completely set as the girl stepped from the pavement and up a small path that lead to the front door of a rather expansive looking house. Standing with two floors in a glossy bone white, the house boasted a rather bold elegenece with it's sky-blue tiled roofing and broad balcony over the front lawn. The girl didn't pause as she stepped up the steps to the front door of the house, and began to rummage through her pockets for what was obviously the key to the house. Her fingers seemed to fumble slightly as she pulled out her keys, and as a sneeze escaped her, her keys had slipped out of her hands and to the floor. _

_The peach-haired girl let out an exhausted sigh as she took a step back to bend over and retrieve the keys, however she didn't get that far as something from the corner of her eye caught her attention. She blinked for a few seconds, before turning her head to look over at the veranda over towards her right. There was nothing actually present upon the veranda, however there were many circles of dirt in various places upon the veranda, as if furniture and other various items had stood there until today. _

"_Great ..." The girl spoke, scooping up her keys quickly as she began to make a quick job of getting herself inside. It looked like someone had cleaned the front of the house out. The lock clicked twice as she turned the key inside the barrel, before it unlocked to allow the young woman inside. "Hey Mom!" She called, frowning slightly at the lack of light inside as she allowed herself in._

_There were no lights on inside of the house as the girl shut the door behind her, and there was no sound that met her greetings to her mother, either. Maybe the woman hadn't of heard her?_

_She allowed a faint breath to escape her as she flicked the light of the landing room on, before she turned to lock the front door behind her. She didn't seem the least bit surprised that there were no voices to greet her call – just a little disappointed. Looking around at the house that stretched out before her, however, the girl soon found herself to be staring at a strangely empty house._

_While basic furniture remained, the girl could immediately tell that many items had gone missing; Many paintings, pottery and even the television no longer decorated the expansive entertainment room that stood joined to the landing room. She sucked in the faintest of breaths as she slowly shifted her gaze to the umbrella basket just next to the door, where a few coloured umbrella, a thick and heavy stick and a fire-poker stood innocently in the confines of the basket. She still couldn't hear anyone within the house, but she wouldn't settle for that as she carefully took hold of the stick as a weapon. The house was huge, and if the robbers were still here for another load of loot, she wouldn't know until she walked in on them. _

_The girl didn't wonder about where her Mom was; The woman could sleep through just about anything – Including burglars breaking in and stealing stuff. She was probably still in bed, none the wiser about what was going on._

_Upon her way up towards the stairs to the second floor however, a piece of paper upon the small table next to the stairs came to the girl's notice. It was a strangely coloured piece of letter paper, with heavily looped, familiar handwriting upon it. The girl tried to force her attention on inspecting the house, however her stomach began to churn, as if something was telling her to drop what she was doing and read it. It was her Mom's handwriting, she knew that immediately, however she didn't really understand why this seemed to matter at the moment. _

_The girl let out a faint breath, before she glanced back at the piece of paper. Written neatly upon the top of the page was the name Serah, and it had the young girl hesitate in her attempt at heading upstairs. The small page was written for her, it appeared, and as Serah tucked the wooden stick beneath her arm, she hesitantly lifted the piece of paper from the table. The churning of her stomach got worse the longer it took for her to read the page, and the further down her eyes scanned, the more her expression contorted into horror. _

_There were no burglars as Serah found out; As the letter slipped from her shaking fingers and to the floor, the realisation was severe enough for her to feel sick to the stomach. _

_No one had come and robbed the house; Serah's mother had taken what she wanted, and run away. _

_She left Serah behind. _

The sudden sensations of something pulling at her head jerked her awake so suddenly that she didn't know what was going on; The sounds of a clattering bang echoed for just a second as the sensations of falling overcame Serah, before she even saw anything in front of her. A sharp jolt of pain shot through the back of her head as a dull thud echoed for just a moment, before Serah found herself crumbled in a heap at the base of what she understood was a wall by the fact that it hadn't of moved. Blinking furiously against the pain shooting through her head, and the racing of her heart inside her already pained chest, Serah soon realised that she was kind of sprawled on the floor behind her bench, and that there were two forms staring down at her. Her headphones were sitting on the desk where she had been resting her head in her sleep, and the form that stood just to the right of where Serah had been sitting was staring down at her, confusion plastered across the rather familiar face.

"Are you alright?" Echoed a faintly familiar voice, however, Serah barely had the chance to try and figure out what was going on, before the form closest to her leant towards her slightly, with a hand outstretched towards her.

"I think you just scared her, Kid." Echoed another voice all of a sudden. There was no audiable response that Serah could pick, however, as she blinked again against the confusion that refused to release her, she hesitantly accepted the hand, and she was carefully pulled to her rather unstable feet.

"Th-Thank you ..." Serah spoke slowly, her free hand going to the bench as she felt who she knew was Death The Kid release her hand, allowing her to carefully sit down backwards on the bench she'd been previously sleeping upon. There was no audiable response, however Serah heard footsteps as she carefully readjusted her glasses upon her face. Her heart was finally beginning to slow, and her mind was finally beginning to clear, as well. Finally, it appeared she'd be able to form a coherrent sentence without the fear of either fainting or hyperventilating from the panic.

Blinking slowly, Serah slowly lifted her gaze to look over at the two that had decided to wake her up all of a sudden. She could see Patty and Liz sitting at their places, talking about something that didn't make very much sense, and Death The Kid sitting, with his attention towards the front of the class. As Serah looked around the classroom, she began to notice people beginning to wander in; It must be the small ten minute break between classes, like she expected. However, she found herself once again wondering about where the class had gone during the first class. However, there was no Maka and Soul, leaving her with just one of two people remaining she could ask at that very moment.

"U-um, Death-?" Serah began, her tone wavering slightly as she began to wonder what to refer to him as; Everyone else called him Kid, but they were all familiar with him. After a second, however, Death The Kid turned his head to look at her, a rather perplexed expression coming to Serah's notice. Was it strange to him that she'd called him Death? No matter; She'd caught his attention, so she might as well finish her question. "Where exactly did everyone go? Did I miss a class or something?"

"No – Stein decided to take everyone out of the academy for a practical class." Death the Kid proceeded to explain, causing the colour in Serah's face to pale a shade or two. "I did inform him that my father was speaking with you, however."

"O-oh … Thank you." Serah couldn't help but feel somewhat upset, given the fact that she'd just missed a practical lesson of all things. After what seemed like several long and agonising moments, Death The Kid shifted his gaze back to the front of the classroom, allowing Serah back to do what she wanted. Sucking in a deep breath through her nose, she turned around on the bench to face the front of the class, however now that the shock had subsided, she didn't feel the least bit motivated to focus on anything. Leaning forward over the desk in front of her, Serah rest her head upon her arms as she folded them onto the table carefully.

However she found herself drifting into an apathetic state, where her mind just reminded her of that memory that had decided to resurface. She hoped to be rid of that unfortunate memory, however it appeared her subconscious wanted to slowly torture her with the image.


	16. You

**[Authors Note]** Hello everyone, and welcome to the next chapter of Down Into My Shadow! I apologise for the horrible delay on this, and hope that while it might not be as long as previous chapters, that you find great enjoyment with this chapter. I'm in the process of working on Chapter Seventeen at the moment, and I will submit it as soon as I have it done. A special thanks to Counting Sinful Stars, rockandmetal101 and Tsukino Aisuru – A for all of your reviews! They mean a lot, even many months after you all submitted them! In anycase, please drop in a review if you feel up for it, and I hope you enjoy!

Jozei / MuffinxXxSyndrome / Sanguinistic Nightmares out!

_**CHAPTER SIXTEEN: You**_

Serah's concentration was well and truly spent; After that dream, glimpses of that house kept on rising up in her thoughts, much like her sub-conscious was forcing her to think about it without break. Every time her class-related thoughts would shift or receed ever so slightly, the dream would rise up to drag her back to face it.

Everytime Serah thought things were settling down, something changed. She thought she was just going to get Dancing Lessons, and she would work with her replica weapons, and then bang! All of a sudden Amanda decided to be a temporary weapon! Was there ever going to be a time where Serah would not have to constantly remind herself that she had a change in plans every single day?

As it stood, by the time the lunch bell had rung, Serah had barely even registered that she hadn't gotten any notes copied down. Instead, her notebook was free from words, yet small drawings lined the margins of the page she had been staring at for the past three hours. They were inconsequential to her studies, and didn't appear to have anythign to do with the plaguing thoughts that refused to release their vice grip of her mind. About the most that stood out to Serah's notice was the chains that ran down the right margin of her page.

Would there ever be a time where Serah's life would settle down? At this rate, Serah might as well just give up on finding a Meister at all.

While the idea was unfortunate, it wasn't entirely definite either. There was always a chance that the right person would come around the corner at any given moment, but Serah had seven months of being unwanted to rationalise and come to the belief that it might not happen, either.

Silence uncharacteristic for Serah's class came to her notice, and after a few seconds she lifted her gaze from her notebook to look around.

As far as she could see, she was the only one in the room. Serah's gaze shifted up to the clock for just a second to see that lunch break was partly over. She let out a faint breath, lifting her right hand to gently shift her fringe out of her face. She'd been so out of sync today that she didn't even notice everyone walking out of the room around her. Not even Stein's notes for the previous class was left up on the board.

"Damn it..." Serah muttered beneath her breath, gently flipping her notebook shut as she let out a small sigh. "I need to stop doing that ..."

"So you're back with us, now?" Piped up a voice all of a sudden, starting Serah out of her witts. She flinched, her eyes widening with her surprise as she managed to look towards where the voice had come from. In Maka's seat directly behind Serah was the vaguely familiar form belonging to Liz, her gaze upon Serah with a glint of curiosity.

"L-Liz?!" Serah managed to gasp, her spectacled eyes blinking owlishly as she tried to figure out what was going on. "Hi – Umm …"

"Gotta admit, I was wondering if you'd fallen asleep there." The sandy blonde began, lifting herself over the bench to drop down to the row Serah was seated in.

Serah was silent for a few seconds, blinking once again as Liz shifted to settle backwards onto the bench that Death The Kid took up during classes.

"Umm … Did you need something?" Serah asked hesitantly, biting down on her bottom lip as Liz let out a faint breath.

"Not really, I just wanted to talk to you." Liz remarked with a shrug.

"O-Oh ..."

The silence that descended upon Serah was rather awkward. The last time she had spoken with Liz one on one was when she'd managed to gash her arm open and Liz came to see if she was alright. She still felt quite guilty over her temper that day.

"Is there something bothering you?" Liz asked after a moment, fixing Serah with a questioning look.

"Umm, no?" Serah answered slowly, lifting a hand to brush her fringe out of her face slightly. "You mean with class, right? Nothing's bothering me."

A sigh escaped Liz in response, and the woman wore a small wry smile. 

"Look, I'm gonna level with you for a second." Liz remarked, turning on the bench a little to look at Serah properly. "We heard you talking in your sleep this morning. You know, when Kid woke you up before second class?"

Serah remained silent, her teeth closing tightly into her bottom lip.

"By the sounds of it, you've got some things in your head you need to talk about, but haven't." Liz leaned forward a little, her gaze scrutinising Serah's expression rather analytically. "I'm not meaning to pry into anything personal, but is it to do with what Lord Death wanted? Cause Kid seems to think so – He said you seemed fine when he spoke to you earlier."

Now it was Serah's turn to let out a sigh. She turned her head to look down at her closed notebook, considering what she was going to say carefully.

"It is … but it isn't at the same time..." Serah responded, lifting her hands to press them to her face gently. "Just this past month has been a nightmare, and I still don't know what's going on. Everytime I get used to a situation, something happens and I'm right back to square one."

Liz was silent for a few seconds, taking to watching Serah as she continued to rub her small, bandaged hands over her face.

"You don't like Change very much, do you?" Liz asked, her tone rather curious for some reason.

Serah let out a small breath as she lowered her hands from her face.

"I don't _mind _change." She responded, turning her head to look at Liz after a moment. "I just don't like change when it's as erratic as a bag of mexican jumping beans."

At Serah's reference, a smile broke across Liz's face.

"Okay, I can understand that." Liz responded, lifting her arms to stretch a little. "So level with me; What did Lord Death want that flipped you on your butt this morning?"

Serah sighed once again, turning her gaze to look up at the blackboard.

"He suddenly found me a temporary weapon to work with." Serah gave in after a few seconds, cradling her chin in the palm of her right hand.

"Wait." Liz responded, confusion echoing in the tone of her voice. "I thought you're a weapon? I heard Maka mention it at one point."

"I am." Serah responded, glancing at Liz from the corner of her eye for a second. "No one wants to weild me, so Lord Death thought he'd get a replica of my weapon form made up so I could at least learn _something _while I'm trying to find a Meister."

Liz was silent for a moment, her brow furrowing as she let Serah's words sink in on her.

"Right, I guess that kind of makes sense in a weird way."

"Yeah, but right now, it looks more like he's saddling me to stick as a Meister." Serah slowly closed her eyes as frustration began to prickle at the back of her mind. "It sounds stupid for me to put it this way, but it almost feels like Lord Death doesn't even want me to find a Meister at all."

"And throw in those accidents of yours, plus Black*Star being Black*Star, and Kid's freak out at Maka's the other day." Liz added, a sigh escaping her as she leant back against the desk behind her. "I guess you really meant it when you said this month's been a nightmare for you."

Liz's tone wasn't sarcastic or mocking; Just matter of fact, like she was summarising what she'd seen and heard of Serah's current situation.

"God, it really sounds like I'm just sitting here complaining about it." Serah spoke, a sigh escaping her as Liz's words sunk in on her.

"No, you're just leveling with me." Liz responded, casting Serah a wry smile.

Serah didn't reply; She lowered her forehead to the edge of the desk and closed her eyes with a faint breath. She hadn't intended on talking about this, even to Maka … but Liz just prodded at her buttons and got her to spill. It was a little disconcerting for Serah, and it had her feeling rather guilty for speaking of her concerns, but in a weird way, it felt a little better than just dwelling on it like she had been up until now.

"I know it probably doesn't seem like it, but I reckon Lord Death does want you to find a Meister." Liz piped up after a few moments, pausing for just long enough to stretch a kink out of her back. "I bet if the right Meister magically turns up in a month's time, he'd be estatic for you to suddenly drop back into being a Weapon, no questions asked – He's just looking out for you."

"Why?" Serah felt that one question that had been bothering her suddenly escape her lips, and she found herself inwardly cringing at the silence that met her one word. "Why is he looking out for me so much?"

"What do you mean?" Liz asked, confusion evident in the tone of her voice.

Serah lifted her head from the desk, turning her head to look at Liz as she spoke.

"I'm not a child of a Death-Scythe. I'm not a powerful weapon with some special skill, nor am I a child prodigy – My only talent is coming close to breaking my neck on a daily basis." Serah spoke evenly, her gaze searching for any answer she could see in the woman's face. "So, _why _is Lord Death looking out for me so much, when I'm none of these things?"

"I think that's just the kind of person Lord Death is." Liz answered after a moment, her expression softening a little as she spoke. "I don't think being anything outstanding or special gains you special privleges."

"But it doesn't make any sense!"

"Have you ever thought about just asking Lord Death?" Liz asked after a few seconds, earning a confused look from Serah. "I'm sure he'd tell you if it matters that much to you."

Surprise overcame Serah as Liz's words sunk in on her. She'd never even considered just asking Lord Death – In the back of her mind, she'd always just thought he'd wave her question off, and it felt almost disrespectful to the Grim Reaper to consider even asking him in the first place.

But was that how it was? Could Serah just walk up to Lord Death and ask him this one question that bothered her more than anything else?

A smile had touched Liz's face as she watched the ways Serah's expressions were working as she thought, straightening up a little as approaching footsteps began to echo from the corridor outside the classroom.

"You didn't even think of that, did you?" She asked, earning Serah's attention once again.

"No – It never even occurred to me." Serah responded honestly, a sheepish smile touching her pale features.

"I can tell." Liz remarked, glancing towards the door of the classroom as voices began to echo in the distance.

It sounded like everyone was beginning to come back slowly; At a glance to the clock above the blackboard, Serah found herself rather surprised that it was a little before two; Afternoon classes were about to start.

"So. Feel better yet?" Liz asked, a smirk echoing in the tone of her voice as Serah turned her gaze back to the weapon.

"Actually, yes." Serah answered, a wry smile touching her face.

"Good! Then my job is done!" Liz remarked, rising to her feet as Serah blinked in surprise. "Kid was getting a little worried."

"What?!" Serah practically squeaked, her eyes widening considerably at Liz's statement. The weapon raised an eyebrow, a small smile creeping across her lips.

"I meant he was worried you were still upset at him" She explained, however she was still smiling down at Serah like something was amusing her.

"O-oh ..."

"I know you're just surprised to hear that, but you almost seem embarrassed or something." Liz grinned as she spoke, crossing her arms as she leant forward to peer closely at Serah's face. "Is there something you want to admit to? A confession about Kid, perhaps?"

Serah blinked once, twice, and on the third time she realised what Liz was insinuating. Needless to say it brought a startled look to Serah's face.

"No!" Serah squeaked, probably a little too loudly from the smirk growing across Liz's face. "It's nothing like that at all!"

"Really? Then what is it?"

About all Serah could do at first was sigh; She lifted her hands to run them over her face in an attempt at calming herself down, and after a couple of seconds, she lowered them to look up at Liz seriously.

"I've never known what to make of him, so I've always assumed he just doesn't like me." Serah answered honestly, flexing her fingers as she tried to arrange her words properly without stumbling over them. "I mean, one moment he seems to pretend I don't exist, the next he says 'Hi', and then all of a sudden I get a glare the very next time I bump into him. It makes it very hard to figure out what's what when I get a whole ton of mixed responses."

Liz was momentarily silent, however a chuckle escaped her before long.

"That doesn't surprise me – He really takes some getting used to." She remarked, glancing at the door as students began to slowly filter in. "But to put it bluntly, he wouldn't have bothered apologising to you if he actually disliked you."

Serah was silent at first, her shock fading away to make way for a perplexed look. She could hear many people beginning to walk into the classroom now, however all she was thinking about was the curious logic behind Liz's statement. She really hadn't thought about it that way! And she was starting to inwardly groan, because now she had more things to sit there and think about!

"That makes sense..." Serah thought out-loud, however by the time she snapped out of thought, she found that Liz was gone.

Serah blinked in surprise, looking frantically around the room to try and locate where the woman had gone. However she had no luck; Half the class had returned from lunch break at that moment, and no one she spoke with was here.

After a few seconds thought, Serah turned herself back towards the front of the classroom, her fingers absent-mindedly flipping her notebook open as she began to run over that surprising talk Liz had with her.

Serah felt much better, realising that she really needed to actually talk about her concerns. Stress was something that wore her down a lot faster than it would with someone like Maka, and in fact, stress was the one thing that she couldn't afford. Stress was what had started her emotional eating when she was back in Chicago, after all.

In the back of her mind, Serah felt like she probably couldn't talk with Maka about the kind of stuff she probably could with Liz, for some reason. Maka was her best friend, and subconsciously Serah would feel like Maka was sugar-coating any views and opinions she would give Serah in response to her concerns. With Liz, it was more of an outsiders view that helped, and Serah felt that with Liz's personality, she wasn't likely to sugarcoat things, at least, nowhere near as much as Maka would.

It was a few minutes later when the rest of class began to return. Serah finally realised that she hadn't seen Soul and Maka all day, and she began to wonder about it. Maybe they had something come up, or they were on an extra lesson? It also explained why Maka hadn't immediately tried to see what was wrong with Serah the first chance she got. Maka couldn't interrogate her if she wasn't here to do so.

"Alright, take your seats! I'm taking attendance!" Stein's voice called out, and Serah found herself blinking in surprise as the said man rolled into the room on his wheelie-chair. It was also in this moment that Serah noticed the benches to her right begin to fill up. She wasn't quite sure why, but as she saw Death The Kid sit down from the corner of her eye, she couldn't help but turn her head to look at him.

As he noticed that she was looking at him, he turned his head ever so slightly to look at her from the corner of his eye.

Serah felt herself blink owlishly for a second before she tore her gaze away from him, inwardly cursing at the awkward feeling that had now overcome her, no thanks to Liz's teasing. What made the awkward feeling even worse was that she could see through her peripheral vision that Kid was still looking at her.

"Serah!" Stein's voice suddenly called out through the thoughts inside her head, causing a faint squeak of fright to escape her. Frantically shifting her gaze to the man in the patchy lab-coat, Serah noticed that he was casting her a perplexed look. "I've been informed your extra lessons are on hold for now – You'll be attending normal classes for the time being."

Serah sat in bewildered silence as Stein resumed attendance, her thoughts frozen entirely as she failed to comprehend what Stein actually said.

Her extra lessons were off for now?!

What the hell happened?!

It was as Stein snapped his file shut with an audiable snap that the situation made perfect sense to Serah, and all she could do was let her head fall to the desk with a rather loud 'thud', earning an alarmed look from Death The Kid in response.

"Jesus christ, not again!" She groaned out, her eyes screwed shut as she tried not to throw a tantrum at the new change to her academic commitments.

In the back of her mind, she wondered if she was ever going to get her normal academy life back.


	17. Swallow

**[Authors Note]** Hello everyone' I'm back with another chapter. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing this one! In any case, I think there's quite a lot of progression with this, and I am on a strong enough roll that I might get another chapter done soon while I'm crook. The pro's of coming down with an illness that keeps you grounded to your room, I guess :P. In anycase I'd love to hear any thoughts you all have on where you'd like to see this story going, or anything else that you'd like to bring to mention. While I have got the general storyline all planned out, if there is something you'd like to see happen and I can put it in without altering anything crucial, then I'll see what I can do with what's presented. I'd love to hear from you anyway, even if you don't have anything you'd like to see happen in this story :)

Jozei / MuffinxXxSyndrome / Sanguinistic Nightmares out!

_**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Swallow**_

Why does everything have to change so much? Serah wondered about this constantly as she ambled on home after Monday's classes. Her mind was spent, and it was just a good thing that Maka wasn't at the Academy that day – An interrogation would have ensued, had the Scythe Meister seen the frustration across Serah's face.

In the letterbox was another brightly coloured envelope when Serah got home, but the last thing she wanted was to open up the letter from Heather and find herself with something else for her to stew over. So the letter stayed in the letterbox, forgotten as Serah plugged her Music Player into its docking station and drowned herself in music for the rest of the day. It wouldn't do her mood any good to read a letter from her step-mother right now.

Tuesday morning came by with agonisingly slow speed; Serah found herself staring up at her bedroom ceiling, fully conscious as her bedside clock clicked over to 4am. It sucked to be so frustrated you couldn't snap out of your thoughts, but even moreso to be so frustrated you couldn't sleep without waking up because your dreams are just as frustrating as your conscious thoughts.

Serah lifted her hands to her face, gently rubbing the tension out of her cheeks as she tried to get her thoughts and events in order inside her head; It would not do her any good to be this frustrated in class, and It would do her a hell of a lot of good to sort herself out so she could get some descent sleep that night. She let out a breath, allowing her arms to flop to her sides to look up at the ceiling again, forcing her thoughts onto her situation.

At the moment, Serah's situation was a bit of a jumbled mess, but if she thought about it clearly like she usually did, there were things there that she could understand for the most part.

First, Amanda was going to be a stand-in Weapon for her, apparently so she could get used to weilding a proper weapon and get some progress on her studies as a Meister. Which meant that Serah would be sent out on extra lessons when her coordination was greatly improved, and she had succeeded in breaking her auto-pilot movements.

Second, Amanda was apparently a similar weapon to Serah, however she had quit her time in the Academy at one point.

Third, according to Liz, Death The Kid did not have any form of dislike for her, which meant that Serah should probably try to say hello to the guy.

Fourth, Serah's extra lessons were put on hold the same day that she found out Amanda was going to work with her, and it was unknown when she'd be starting them again.

And fifth, another god damn letter from Heather had arrived, though Serah didn't need to read it to know that it was going to be just as frustrating as the first one. In the back of her mind, she wondered where that second letter had gone, but shrugged the thought away just as fast as it had come up.

These were the things that had popped up throughout Monday, disregarding Kid's apology for Saturday's drama. Serah knew that the discontinuing of her Dance Lessons was directly related to the fact that Amanda was now a temporary partner for her; Whether it be because Lord Death was in the middle of sorting some things out with Amanda, or Amanda was busy for a few days, Serah didn't know. All she did know was that they were part of the same thing.

Serah then began to wonder what Amanda's weapon-form looked like, and how was it similar to Serah's own? She was intrigued, but in another way she was a little uncomfortable about it. It made Serah wonder if Amanda's reasons for leaving the Academy were similar to her own problems at the moment? Maybe Amanda couldn't find a Meister herself and just ended up dropping out after so much time being unwanted? That also seemed to pose a possible reason why Lord Death was so interested in her situation at the Academy; Maybe Amanda was the same as Serah, and Lord Death didn't want another student to drop out in exactly the same way? It was a theory that helped Serah's frustration, though she did wonder if she was reading too much into it.

Turning her head towards the window, Serah watched the black sky as she thought. Maybe she should ask Lord Death about why he was putting so much effort into her like Liz suggested? It would answer so many questions for Serah, and give her a kind of perspective into what to expect. All this being in the dark was doing her head in, after all.

Serah picked herself up after a few minutes, sliding her feet over the edge of the bed and beginning to get herself organised. While Class wasn't for a good three hours, there was no real point in lying in bed to stew even longer on her thoughts. She was likely to drive herself insane.

So, after a warm shower, Serah began to go through her scarce clothes to find something suitable to go to the Academy in. Unfortunately, with everything that's been going on, Serah found herself face to face with very little that she would usually wear. She cast an exasperated glance over at the wash-basket standing next to the dresser where the majority of her wardrobe sat overflowing over the lip of the basket and onto the floor. About the best she found was a long sleeved white shirt with a knee-length pinafore dress in a warm brown. Of course Serah cast a glare at her overflowing wash-basket as she got dressed, feeling a little too exposed in a dress without her tights.

Breakfast was a no go for Serah as she ambled around for something to pass the time with; Because of all her frustrations yesterday, she'd completely forgotten about dinner, and there was no food in the building at all for breakfast. All Serah _could _find was a packet of boil-prepare pasta, but with no sauces or anything, the most Serah had to season it with was Salt, the thought of which made her appetite vanish on her anyway. So, she just busied herself with chores until it was time to leave, tying her hair back in her ever-normal bun, pulling on her shoes and headphones before taking off.

For a Tuesday, Serah found herself somewhat surprised that there wasn't very many people out and about. And it wasn't like she just didn't notice them because she had her nose burried in a book, either. She only spotted the odd student or so on the way to the Academy, and there wasn't very much noise when she got inside. In fact, as Serah arrived at the classroom come quarter to seven, there was only five people inside. There was a dark-skinned guy with black-rimmed glasses sitting next to a pair of small twin girls, though she didn't know any of their names, the lady who Serah vaguely recalled to be Tsubaki, and Maka.

Inwardly, Serah began to wonder what the hell was going on as she made her way towards her desk in front of Maka.

"Hey Serah." Maka piped up as soon as she spotted Serah take her seat at her desk, causing the peach-haired girl to cast a smile up at her. Tsubaki had lifted her head and cast Serah a small smile, which she returned hesitantly.

"Hiya." Serah responded, a breath escaping her as she turned on the bench to face her blonde friend. "What happened to you guys, yesterday? You weren't in class."

"Yeah, well Lord Death wanted us to go hunt down a Kishin Egg in Orlando." Maka responded with a smile, leaning forward over her bench to see Serah a little better over the separating wall. "We got back real late, so I couldn't catch up with you yesterday."

"Oh?" Serah deadpanned, her brow furrowing in confusion. "You wanted to see me yesterday?"

"Well, yeah. You copped one of Kid's symmetry tantrums at my place, didn't you?" Maka responded, much like it was rather obvious. "I wanted to see if you were alright."

"I'm fine. Nothing wrong." Serah responded, though she felt a smile touch her face.

"Really?" Maka asked, confusion creeping across her face as she stared at Serah, much like she was looking for telltale signs of a lie. "You're not upset?"

"Well, he apologised yesterday, so it's alright." Serah explained, straightening up as she glanced at what she could see of Tsubaki over the separation wall.

"Huh, that's a surprise." Maka remarked, a curious look creeping back across her face. "I guess Liz probably gave him a talking to."

Serah felt her brow furrow at that statement, however she didn't go to pry in it; She didn't need the extra thinking fuel added to her repertoire, now of all times. That, and she preferred to think that Death The Kid actually apologised to her of his own choice.

"Maybe Kid apologised on his own?" Tsubaki piped up after a moment, breaking through the silence that had descended upon the girls, causing both Serah and Maka to look at the raven-haired weapon. "He did look like he felt guilty when he calmed down, after all."

Serah was silent, staring at Tsubaki's face in surprise; She was seriously wondering if she should start to talk with the lady – She seemed really quite nice.

"I guess you're right." Maka agreed, turning her head back to look at Serah, a small smirk creeping across her face. "Anyway, what's with the dress?"

"Eh?" Serah was surprised by the sudden change of topic, and could only blink owlishly up at the Scythe Meister. In Serah's peripheral vision, she could see the seats throughout the classroom begin to fill up. "What do you mean 'what's with the dress?'. I'm just wearing one."

"Nothing." Maka drawled, her smirk growing a little more as Tsubaki giggled just a little. "Just that I have never seen you wear a dress before."

Serah felt an exasperated sigh escape her.

"Yes you have. Saturday, remember? Blue dress and Tights?" Serah decided to point out, lifting a hand to shift her fringe out of her eyes again. "And besides, I'd forgotten to do my washing for weeks; I honestly ran out of my normal clothes."

"Oh." Maka remarked, and for some reason she looked a little disappointed at Serah's honest answer.

"Why? Do I look bad or something?" Serah inquired, her brow furrowing as Maka smiled sheepishly.

"No, it really suits you – I just thought there might be a different reason for it ... maybe someone?"

Serah stared at Maka for a few long seconds, her exasperation showing clearly across her face as the Meister grinned sheepishly.

"When _you_ were in that pretty dress on Saturday, I just assumed it was hot weather." Serah remarked, the exasperation remaining fixed upon her face as she stared at Maka. "But by your logic, maybe I should have assumed you were looking pretty for your partner?"

Stunned silence; Maka's sheepish smile faded in an instance, earning a giggle from Tsubaki, who looked like she was enjoying the little exchange of words.

"So, what's it going to be?" Serah pressed, crossing her arms as she awaited the Scythe Meister's response.

"Okay, you've got a point." Maka retorted after a few long seconds, a pout creeping across her face as she turned her head away moodily. The corner of Serah's mouth threatened to lift at her sudden amusement, but she chose to stick with her current form of exasperation to veil her sudden realisation.

Maka's reaction was oddly suspicious.

Feeling relieved that she had turned Maka's questioning right around, Serah shifted so that she was seated at her desk properly, only allowing her smirk to creep in place once the Scythe Meister couldn't see her face.

She had to admit, it was actually fun to pick on Maka for a change.

"Alright – Sit down so I can start taking attendance, Class." Came Stein's voice all of a sudden, and as Serah's gaze focused on the door of the classroom, she saw the familiar Teacher roll in on his trusty wheelie chair towards the front of class. It was here that Serah noticed a lot of the class had turned up; Soul was in the middle of walking up the stairs towards his seat, some guy who Serah vaguely recognised to be another Meister with glasses, and a mostly bald head asside from two tufts of brown hair on either side, and a couple others. Soul cast her a small grin as he walked past her row, which Serah returned with the smallest wave of her hand.

However, as Stein took attendance, the three seats to Serah's right were empty, and oddly enough, Serah didn't even hear Stein call out the trio's names, either.

It was enough to have Serah confused, though she didn't place any in-depth thought to it. It was likely Death The Kid, Liz and Patty had gone on a job, much like Maka and Soul did yesterday. After all, the only person in this class that never did any work like that was Serah herself.

While she had a reason, Serah couldn't help but feel like she was horribly lazy for it.

"Alright, today we will be having a practical revision on Group Resonance." Stein announced once he had snapped his manilla file with the class roster shut, turning on his chair to face the class as a whole. "However this time I will be assigning you all to other teams you wouldn't usually work with, for a bit of a change."

Serah blinked in surprise, though she didn't really pay it much thought. It was another practical class that she wouldn't be able to participate in until she had a Meister of her own.

Like she was even surprised by it.

"First of all, Tsubaki, since Black*Star's conveniently skipping today, I would like you to pair up with Serah and practice matching wavelengths instead." Stein announced, lifting his gaze to fix it upon the Raven-Haired Weapon sitting in the row behind Serah.

However while Tsubaki piped up with a faint 'Yes sir', Serah felt her mental state freeze up, and all she could do was stare at Stein in bewilderment.

What the hell was going on?

Did Stein just include her in a practical lesson!?

Was he for real!?

It didn't help that she saw a kind smile grace the man's face as he glanced at her, as if knowing she was having a hard time comprehending the situation. He didn't say anything further on that, and began to list off other people he wanted to group up for the lesson, but Serah didn't hear it. All she heard bouncing through her head on repeat was that she was actually getting to participate in a practical lesson.

Within seconds it seemed, students began to lift themselves out of their seats, and Serah felt something hit the back of her head, snapping her out of her momentary daze. She blinked owlishly for a second, her right hand going to the back of her head as she turned to try and see what had hit her.

It turned out to be a small scrunching up of paper, though nothing much else; Serah heard a giggle from Maka, bring her to lift her gaze to look up at the Meister.

"You with us, now?" Maka asked, a grin creeping across her face as Serah continued to blink owlishly.

"Umm … I don't think so..." Serah responded slowly, her brow pulling together as she lifted her right hand to tug on the bangs hanging past her jaw. There was a sharp pain as she tugged forcefully, sign enough to Serah that she didn't happen to fall asleep at the desk. "Oww, okay, maybe I am ..."

A chuckle escaped Soul as he began to walk back along the row towards the stairs, his hands burried in his pockets as he shook his head a little. Maka glanced over at Soul for a second, before she grinned back at Serah.

"Good Luck!" Maka remarked, and with that, she was jogging to catch up with Soul, leaving Serah to stare owlishly after her.

Well, Good Luck was an appropriate thint to say; Serah'd never resonated with anyone before …

"Shall we get started, Serah?" Tsubaki asked, leaning over the separating wall to look down at Serah. She blinked once again as she felt nerves beginning to settle in her stomach, turning her head to look up at Tsubaki.

"U-umm … yeah?" Serah squeaked, realising pretty quickly that the last time she had spoken with Tsubaki was when she had to drag Black*Star away in the cafeteria... It wasn't helping, and made Serah's nerves even worse.

She inwardly cursed her appearingly masochistic memory as Tsubaki cast her a smile, taking to furutively glancing down at the open floor in the front of the classroom.

Despite there being at least five students missing today, Serah noticed that most of the floor-room had been taken up by the groups; Serah also noticed that Maka and Soul appeared to have been paired off with the dark-skinned guy with his twin weapons.

"Should … we stay up here? It doesn't look like there's much room down there ..." Serah couldn't help but ask, turning her head to look back at Tsubaki, who had risen to her feet.

"That's not a bad idea." Tsubaki remarked after a glance down at the open flooring, turning her gaze back to Serah with a small smile. "Since it's just us two, I don't think Professor Stein will mind, either."

With that said, Tsubaki began to make her way around the row of desks to Serah's own row, her hands linked comfortably behind her as she moved.

Serah fidgited in her seat, her hand stil closed around the bangs on the right side of her jaw loosening and shifting to the back of her head to fiddle with her messy bun. The fact that she was learning how to match wavelengths with someone was more than enough to have her second-guessing whether she could even do something that simple, but at the same time she was giddy with the fact that finally she was able to participate in a practical lesson, even if it's different to what everyone else was doing. Out of Serah's incessent fidgiting, she tugged the hair-tie out of her hair and let it unravel to rest against her back so she could play with the band of cotton-wrapped elastic.

Tsubaki walked past Serah, and took up a seat at the empty seat to her left, sitting so that she was facing Seran instead of side by side.

"So have you ever matched wavelengths with anyone before, Serah?" Tsubaki decided to ask, causing the nervous girl to look up in response.

"No … I haven't."

A warm smile spread across Tsubaki's face as Serah shifted so she was sitting face to face with her, as well.

"That's alright." Tsubaki piped up, throwing a glance over at the rest of the class as she seemed to think. "Are you a Weapon or a Meister?"

Serah blinked at the out of the blue question, tilting her head to the right slightly as she chose to answer.

"I'm a Weapon... But I'm supposed be learning how to be a Meister until someone comes along for me." Serah answered as honestly as she could, not the least bit surprised to see confusion cross Tsubaki's face.

"But you don't have a weapon partner, either, do you?"

"Not really..." Serah hedged, biting on her bottom lip for just a second. "I'm using a weapon Professor Stein made for me, but outside of class, there's this lady I'm supposed to be learning from. Lord Death thought I might interest a Meister if I could use a made weapon the same as myself."

It was a few seconds of silence until understanding shone across Tsubaki's face.

"Do you like the idea of being a Meister?"

"I don't know." Serah answered honestly, lowering her gaze to her hands sitting in her lap for just a second. "I mean, it's not like I've done anything as a Weapon to know either which way. All I've ever done is change form and back, and that's it."

"What kind of Weapon are you?" Tsubaki asked after a moment.

"Circlets, apparently..."

"Apparently?" Tsubaki repeated curiously, bringing a sheepish smile to creep across Serah's face.

"Its what Lord Death said I was, but I don't know, to be honest with you. I haven't seen myself before, only the weapon that Professor Stein made for me, but that's even a bit different. Kind of like two ring-blades joined together by a chain?"

Tsubaki was silent for a few seconds, curiosity still showing brightly across her face.

"Do you mind if you showed me what you look like as a weapon?" Tsubaki piped up all of a sudden, as realisation began to show brightly in her expression.

"Sh-show you?" Serah repeated, much at a loss of words. No one had ever asked her that before. "I … I don't think I brought my circlets with me..."

"Then, can you transform instead?"

Serah was silent, shock evident over her face as she stared up at Tsubaki, who was waiting patiently with a small smile across her face.

Was she allowed to do that? She had to transform so that Stein could make a descent replica of herself to work with, but she'd never transformed outside of that while she'd been in Death City – It always felt like she really shouldn't do that when she didn't have a Meister of her own. Back in Chicago was the same, but for a very different reason; She had people terrified of her when they glimpsed her, and they either tried to shoot her out of terror, or they had tried to catch her for uncomfortable reasons.

It always felt like some kind of taboo for Serah to do stuff like that.

"C-can I do that?" Serah managed to ask, and much to her bewilderment, Tsubaki giggled for some reason.

"Well of course you can! Everyone else has, already." Tsubaki remarked, motioning over to the other students, Meisters weilding their weapon partners as they progressed with the Practical Lesson. "See? Maka's wielding Soul right now, and Jacky's in her form as well."

Serah blinked, turning her head to look where Tsubaki had spoken of, her spectacled gaze falling upon Maka, who was standing in the corner of the room beneath the window, her eyes closed as she held a red, black and silver Scythe in her grip. In fact, just as Tsubaki had said, every weapon in the class had transformed, and was being held by their respective Meisters.

She felt a small smile tug at her features as she realise she was just being stupid, and turned her gaze back to Tsubaki.

"You're right. I'm just being stupid." Serah remarked, her small smile shifting to a grin as she linked her hands together in her lap, her hait-tie long since forgotten and slipped to the floor.

"No you're not. I think it's more of a case you're just not used to being able to do anything." Tsubaki piped up, a faint giggle escaping her as Serah blinked up at her.

"How have we never really spoken until now?" Serah deadpanned.

In response, Tsubaki just smiled.

"Okay, guess I'd better start, then." Serah closed her eyes after a few seconds, sucking in a deep breath through slightly parted lips as she concentrated.

She willed her form to change, just like she had in Stein's Laboratory, and after a few short seconds, she felt the familiar shift of senses, much like she had fallen into a body of cold water, however unlike when she did this at Stein's Laboratory, this time it was a pleasant feeling, like the water was just nice and cool. And then there was a faint zap, and Serah felt the sensations of free-falling.

She opened her eyes, finding herself standing naked in a dark void that was reminiscent of the last time she had done this, however she wasn't feeling anywhere near as uncomfortable. No one could see the her inside this darkness – Only her weapon form that now took residence in the Classroom. Her senses piqued as she found herself able to see the world around her weapon form through the darkness, and she found that she was falling towards the bench where she had sat just seconds before, catching glimpses of nothing but the ceiling, and the top of Tsubaki's head as she descended.

What felt like hands touched her, catching her weapon form before she clattered to the bench. She was at first surprised at the sudden presence of hands, however they weren't cold, nor were they uncomfortable per say; It was just like someone she had just become accustomed to had just caught her before she fainted, and she was neither perplexed nor bothered. It just happened.

However as Serah's vision steadied upon the ceiling above her, she found herself spotting something that wasn't there just moments before – Something that actually startled her, given the situation. A black-clad form had frozen in shock part-way through the motions of sitting down at his regular desk, his gold-coloured eyes wide with an emotion she couldn't pick.

However the one thing she knew was that he was staring down at her, making her quiver in discomfort.


	18. Orange

**[Authors Note]** Hey there! Another chapter out for you guys! I hope you enjoy this one. As always, reviews are muchly appreciated, as they seem to motivate me to get more chapters out even faster, considering I have a rather shot attention span. Lemme know if there's anything you'd like to see happen somewhere in the future, and I'll see if I can swing it into the story :)

Jozei / MuffinxXxSyndrome / Sanguinistic Nightmares out!

_**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Orange**_

Death The Kid continued to stare at Serah's weapon form, his eyes wide with an emotion she had no hope to identify, his mouth agape. The stare was unnerving, and it had Serah quivering within Tsubaki's grip. Liz was standing just next to Death The Kid, her eyes alight with bright realisation as Patty skipped up the stairs from the front of the classroom.

"Hi guys!" Tsubaki piped up with a sheepish smile, glancing down at the quivering circlets held carefully in her grip. "I thought you were out in Germany doing something for Lord Death?"

"Yeah, it was a sinch." Liz remarked, grinning as she glanced down at Serah's weapon form. "Just a small cleanup job."

"I see."

For some reason, Serah noticed that Death The Kid was beginning to break from his frozen state; His expression shifted, and not in the way that Serah had ever expected. His face lit up, almost like he was seeing sunlight for the first time in forever – Which absolutely freaked Serah out.

"What perfect symmetry!" Kid suddenly burst out in exclamation, his eyes filling with tears as he tried to reach out towards the nervous weapon. "Those rings! Those feather-shaped edges! I've never seen a weapon like you before!" Serah flinched as Kid's hands came out to lift her from Tsubaki's hands, however she wasn't able to jerk away from him in this form.

_No! Please don't! _Serah squeaked, however she had a strong feeling that he couldn't actually hear her.

"Kid, I don't think you should do that - You're scaring her." Tsubaki hedged, however that didn't stop the estatic Meister – Entirely consumed in his need to investigate further, he actually managed to grab ahold of Serah's right ring, triggering a sudden bout of panic and fright to rise up in her like she'd just been electrocuted. The shock ripped away her grip of her weapon form before she even knew it, and the darkness around her suddenly vanished in a hot white flash of light.

The next thing Serah knew, she had ended up in a sprawled heap in the row above, her body trembling as she stared at the bench and desk in front of her. Her fringe had come to hang in her eyes, her glasses were slightly skewed upon her nose, and the straps of her pinafore dress had slipped from her shoulders, giving her a rather haggard look.

"Way to go, Kid. You just had to scare her half to death, again." Came Liz's disapproving remark, snapping Serah out of her small moment of frozen panic.

"What?!" Came Kid's immediate response, confusion dripping heavily from his one spoken word. Serah managed to close her eyes, forcing herself to take deep breaths to try and regain her composure again.

"Are you alright, Serah?" Came Tsubaki's voice over the separating wall.

"Wait – Serah?" At Kid's question, Serah let out a faint breath as she opened her eyes. Even in her rattled state, Serah was oddly unsurprised that he didn't realise who she was in her weapon form.

"I'm okay! I think ..." Serah replied to Tsubaki's question after a couple of seconds, lifting her hands to straighten herself out.

She filtered out the shared words between the people on the other side of the separation wall, maintaining regulated deep breaths as she tried to get over her fright and nerves. She was embarrased, uncomfortable, and couldn't seem to forget the sudden shock that shot through her when Kid touched her weaponed form. It might have been because she was in the middle of panicing, but that didn't stop the occurrence from imprinting into her mind.

What with his freak out over her eyes, and the shock she got when he touched her just minutes earlier, Serah was beginning to subconsciously assocate Death The Kid's touch with foreboding, despite the fact that both of these were moments of his Symmetry Obsession. Both sides of his Symmetry Obsessions, Serah noted with chagrin. She'd had him throw a fit at her lack of symmetry in her human form, and received an overly excited reaction to her weapon form's apparent symmetry.

Although, she did wonder if those were the most extreme reactions she'd have to deal with, considering the seating arrangement.

After what felt like less than a couple of minutes, Serah managed to lift herself back to her feet once she felt like she could stand without her legs giving out on her. She dusted herself off as she stared down at her unsteady feet, noticing from her peripheral vision that Liz and Tsubaki were having a small exchange of words, and even further in her vision, she noticed Death The Kid look up at her, though while she forced herself to keep her gaze away from the three class-mates of hers she couldn't see what look he was giving her. About the only thing she knew was that he was silent – She couldn't hear anything from him, even as she saw him shift in her peripheral vision.

The front of the class hadn't really been disturbed by the events that took place in the rows of seats; Everyone in the open floored part of the room were still doing their practical revision, and Stein had his attention on what looked like a small notebook in his hand. Serah let out a faint breath as she began to make her way down the row towards the closest line of steps. If she wasn't in a dress, she would have just dropped herself back over the separating wall.

Again, Serah cursed her slacking with her chores of late.

Tsubaki lifted her gaze from Liz to cast Serah an understanding smile, though she didn't say anything. Serah continued to keep her breathing regulated, feeling a twitch of discomfort begin to rise in her as she walked past Kid to take her seat.

"So, umm … What were we supposed to be doing?" Serah begah hesitantly, turning her head to look back at Tsubaki. The gaze she could feel at the back of her head was uncomfortably invasive, and it had her bite her bottom lip in nervous discomfort. 

"Matching Wavelengths." Tsubaki answered, though she seemed to adpot an apologetic smile as she spoke.

"Oh." Serah let out a faint breath, lifting her right hand to press it to her forehead lightly.

"I'm not sure if there's any point in continuing, though." Tsubaki piped up after a few seconds. "Class is almost finished."

"Huh?!" Serah squeaked out, turning her head to look up at the clock above the blackboard.

Much to her surprise, the clock read 7.55am.

"How long was I up there?!" Serah couldn't help but ask, turning her head back to fix Tsubaki with a rather bewildered look. She thought she was up there for all of about five minutes – How the hell had time gone so fast?!

"About half an hour." Tsubaki answered with a sheepish smile, stunning Serah.

"O-oh … Well, thank you for talking with me at least." Serah managed to say. She didn't receive any vocal response, Tsubaki just cast her a warm smile as she picked herself up, and wandered over to where Liz was standing, talking with Patty about something that Serah couldn't really pick at that moment. Unfortunately for Serah, that left her sitting in an awkward silence with Death The Kid, who had ended up watching the front of the class in thought.

She let out a faint breath once she forced herself to accept the awkward situation, leaning down to unclip the front of her bag so she could retrieve her notebook. Instead of staring absent-mindedly at the class while waiting for time to pass, she could at least busy her hands with something. Otherwise her morning frustrations were bound to come back to annoy her.

Of course, with no notes to take down, about the most Serah could do was retreat to any one of her boredom habits.

By the time Stein had sent everyone back to their seats and proceeded with the second class, Serah had lost herself in a state of apathy. The second class was another vivisection, and this one was of a Komodo Dragon. Serah still wondered why Stein was performing vivisections in place of classes like this, but Maka had once mentioned that everyone's just gotten used to it and didn't bother to complain anymore.

So Serah refused to place her gaze to the sobbing giant lizzard strapped down to the lecturers desk, instead paying more attention to her absent-minded scrawlings.

Throughout the second class, Serah felt a gaze fall upon the right side of her face every now and then. She didn't place much thought to it, really, half the time she didn't notice the glances until she felt the gaze leave her. However, she felt the gaze hit her again as she absent-mindedly drew the main melody of Deku Scrub Palace from a video game she played back home in Chicago, and it brought curiosity to her.

Of course she knew who was sending those glances at her; How could she not when she could see the movement in the corner of her eye?

It was as Stein was in the middle of sewing the now traumatised Komodo Dragon back together again that Serah decided to return one of the glances she'd been receiving. Serah lifted her gaze from the carefully drawn sheet music she'd spent the past hour on, to look up at Death The Kid.

It appeared she caught him by surprise; His eyes widened a little as she caught him looking at her, though he didn't go to tear his gaze away. In fact, he seemed to watch her for a few seconds in thought, before Serah herself crumbled underneath the awkward wave that overcame her. She shifted her gaze back to the half-complete music score, and tried to pretend that she hadn't looked up at him. To no success; She inwardly cringed as she heard Death The Kid let out a faint breath and turn his gaze elsewhere, almost as if he realised he was bothering her.

Serah wondered what the hell was going on. She guessed he was still thinking about what her weapon form looked like – It was the only thing she could think of that would have the Grim Reaper's Son continuing to look at her throughout a class. Although, the last time Death The Kid had spent a whole class looking at her was when he apologised to her for smashing a door into her face the night she woke up after the extra lesson in Paris.

Third Class was not much different from second, and Serah had eventually gotten used to the incessant gaze that continued to fall upon the right side of her face. At one point, Serah had even forgotten that Death The Kid had even been looking at her, and was able to get some of the music echoing in her head written down while Stein lectured on a topic that she couldn't follow right at that moment, no matter how much she really did try. She'd written down the topic title and would borrow a library book on it after final class. That would have to do; When you weren't able to absorb the information, it was best to come back to it when your mind was working properly again.

Lunch was entirely uneventful as well; Maka and Soul had disappeared along with Tsubaki the moment the bell went, apparently having something of great importance they had to sort out. So all Serah could really do was to pick up some sushi from the Cafeteria, pick up a couple of library books, and set up self-study in the classroom.

The rest of the classes for the day moved on with a similar drawl to the second and third; Apart from the glances from Death The Kid every now and then, Serah was left in her own world inside her head, staring down at the books absent-mindedly as she tried to follow the lectures. It was melancholic, after such an alarming event during first class, filling Serah with very little energy to do much. By the end of fourth class Serah had actually fallen asleep, her head resting atop her folded arms over the top of the library books sitting open on the desk.

She had been tired after her restless night with her frustrations, and the melancholy-like atmosphere to the air had Serah's exhaustion grip at her so tightly she couldn't resist. Unlike yesterday where her sleep was plagued by that memory back in Chicago, this time her sleep was black and without disturbances. However throughout the comfortable darkness of sleep, there was the sensation of an incessant shaking in her shoulder ever now and then, pulling her out of her sleep bit by bit.

"Damn it – She's not waking up." Someone piped up all of a sudden, catching Serah's sleepy attention. "I don't suppose we could let her sleep, could we?" 

"Preferrably not." Echoed another voice.

"Right." The first, more familiar voice spoke, exasperation echoing heavily from the tone of her voice.

The exchange of words tugged at Serah's sleepy confusion, enough so where she opened her eyes.

She found herself still in the classroom, however the light in the room was borderline moonlight, and the only other source of light was from the corridors of the academy. Standing over her were two silhouettes; One of a tall feminine figure wearing what looked like some kind of cowboy hat, and another with no real distinguishing features. The tall one was standing over her, an arm outstretched with their hand resting on her shoulder, and the other was standing a little further back. There didn't appear to be anyone else in the classroom, and that tugged at her sleepy confusion.

"Hey, you with us now?" The first voice asked, appearing to notice Serah's consciousness.

"I guess..." Serah mumbled as she lifted herself upright, a hand pressing against her face to try and rub the sleep away. She lifted her gaze to look back at the two who had woken her up, who she recognised to be Liz and Death The Kid. She couldn't see Patty anywhere, but she guessed the weapon was somewhere in the classroom as well. "Where is everyone?"

"Everyone left a couple hours ago." Death The Kid remarked, taking to burying his hands in the pockets of his dress-pants.

"Yeah, we saw you were still asleep in here when we walked past." Liz remarked as she crouched down so she was at equal level with Serah.

"Oh … I'm sorry for the trouble." Serah mumbled, turning her head to look down at the mass of books that were still lying on th desk where she'd been sleeping.

"You're actually supposed to say 'Thanks', you know." Liz remarked immediately, and she cast Serah a lop-sided smile.

"R-right..." Serah responded, and she couldn't help but let out a breath slowly.

"Liz, why don't you walk Serah home?" Death The Kid piped up after a second, shifting slightly on his feet as Liz turned her head to look up at him.

"Sure thing." Liz responded without complaint, however Serah was silent.

At least until she realised what was going on.

"U-umm … I can walk home on my own." Serah piped up hesitantly.

"We wouldn't want you to injure yourself on the way." Kid responded simply, startling Serah.

"Especially with all those books." Liz commented, nodding her head as she thought on that.

Of course that bothered Serah – A lot.

"I'm _not _that clumbsy!" Serah seethed, her cheeks puffing out slightly with the pout she was now wearing.

"Umm, yeah, you are." Liz deadpanned, a smirk creeping across her face as Serah continued to glower at them. "Thin air is leathal for you on a _good _day, let alone a bad one."

"That's not my fault, damnit!" Serah squeaked indignantly, feeling rather insulted at that moment.

However her indignant disposition did nothing to help; Instead Liz began to laugh, though Death The Kid was silent.

"Fine, be that way." Serah retorted as she turned back to her books to begin to stuff them into her bag.

"Come on, it's not that bad." Liz piped up, however she was still giggling.

"_Sure,_ whatever you say." Serah remarked as she clipped her bag shut and lifted herself to her feet, ignoring the surprised look that Liz was casting her.

"Wait – I didn't actually offend you, did I?" Liz questioned her, however Serah didn't look at her.

"Nope." Serah responded sarcastically, and without further words she leapt over the desk to the floor on the other side of the separating wall.

Oddly enough she didn't even stumble in her attempt, and she was immediately walking briskly out of the classroom.

She distinctly heard a sigh echo from Liz as she walked out of the door. It didn't appear that anyone was following her, thankfully.

Once again Serah's mood was out of whack, and she was getting really sick and tired of it.

It wasn't really her fault she kept on falling over or injuring herself over stupid things – She was trying hard to break out of that unfortunate habit. She just unfortuantely exasperated it with her book-reading routeen of many years. But she really was trying. So much so that it really did upset her how _everyone _would point out just how clumbsy she was.

Maka was fine, and so was Soul – She'd had enough contact with them where the remarks were more jokes than anything else. But everyone else telling her every day 'be careful', 'don't hurt yourself' and all these other constant things was beyond frustrating. It wasn't like she enjoyed having to go to the infirmiry every damn week, was it?!

About the only person who had _not _made a reference to her lack of stability was Tsubaki, and she'd only just started talking to the woman _today! _

Inwardly Serah wanted an extra lesson with everyone on a giant boat in the middle of a storm – that way she could watch _them _trip and fall and slide all around for a change, and _she _could remind them to 'be careful' just once!

In amongst Serah's tempermental stewing, she found herself walking down the street that her place was located on. And she hadn't had a single accident. Of course, that was probably because Serah's body had gone on Auto-pilot again while her brain stewed on her frustration.

She really needed to break that habit, but this once it was _very _helpful.

Serah blinked in surprise as she spotted someone seated on the front steps to her front door, though from this distance she couldn't recognise them. She could see a curtain of blonde hair through the streetlamp-light.

Who was it? Serah got the distinct feeling that she had met them – That was a given considering how they were sitting at her door of all places.

"Ah, there you are! I was wondering if you were even coming home tonight!" Came a vaguely familiar voice, and then the form began to lift themselves from the step with a bit of difficulty.

The voice was female, and had a bubbly tone to it.

As Serah got closer, she recognised the person waiting at her door.

The blonde curls, tanned features and bright smile was enough of a clue without the bubbly voice.

"A-Amanda?" Serah squeaked out, slowing to a halt a couple of meters in front of the woman. Her eyes immediately zeroed in on the pair of crutches the woman was supporting herself with, and then she looked down to find a thick cast covering the woman's right leg right up to the knee. "What happened?" Serah questioned as she looked back up at Amanda's face, to see a wry smile creep in place.

"You're not allowed to laugh, alright?" Amanda remarked with a grin, a faint chuckle escaping her as Serah stared. "I kind of woke up at the bottom of the Academy stairs the other night; I'm actually terribly with sleepwalking, so I think I tried to walk up to the academy, and misplaced a step somewhere on the way."

Serah blinked in surprise, her bitter mood long since forgotten.

"That's kind of serious, Amanda." Serah piped up.

"Not really." Amanda responded with a wry grin, readjusting her hold of her crutches. "This isn't the first time I've woken up there – What's worse is that Stein was standing over me again when I came to."

Serah's face went blank at that, and as Amanda's words sunk in on her she suddenly felt rather horrified. If she woke up with Stein staring down at her, she would scream and probably faint from the fright.

"In any case, that's not why I'm here!" Amanda remarked, shifting her weight on her foot slightly as she grinned at Serah's pale face. "I take it Lord Death got the message to you about how we're temporary partners, right?"

Serah nodded slowly, biting down on her bottom lip as she waited.

"Well I thought that while I'm in this cast, we could work on soul resonance and get you up to gear with being a Meister? You know, meditating and matching wavelengths. Beats not doing anything for three months, right?"

Serah was silent at first, her eyes wide as she stared up at the grinning blonde.

"R-really?" Serah asked, not quite sure if she had heard the woman right.

Or more like she was hoping that this wasn't a figment of her imagination.

"Really really." Amanda responded.

A smile lit up on Serah's face immediately.

"Oh my god, yes! Please!" Serah squeaked with delight, earning a rather surprised look from Amanda.

"Whoa, alright." She chuckled slightly as she lifted a hand from her right crutch to brush her fringe from her face. "Guess I don't have to ask if you're up for starting tonight, huh?"

Serah grinned from ear to ear as she shook her head slightly, taking to stepping around the blonde to unlock the door.

Serah's bad mood was long since forgotten.


	19. Heat In Beat

**[Authors Note]** Hello to all my readers! It's been four months, but I hope you enjoy this next chapter of Down Into My Shadow. I actually have a very good reason why I haven't updated anything since December, even though I would have liked to – I've been studying full time to complete a certificate in MicroBusiness Management, and now I have my own business :D It's called Melon Fox Designs, and it's based in Illustration and Graphic Design. The official start date is the First Week of May, and I've spent all this time since the last update actually setting everything up. I'll still be writing, of course. If anyone's interested to see what it is that I actually do in Illustration, then look up MelonFoxJozei on Deviantart, and you'll find me ;) I'll add a link onto my profile page on here if you can't find my DeviantArt page, anyway.

And during the four months since my last update, Down Into My Shadow has broken 100 followers. Wow, haha, I had no idea that this was so popular until I came back a couple days ago and found all those notifications in my email :D So I hope this chapter does not disappoint.

In any case, enough of my blabbing, I'd love it if I could hear from some of you wonderful people reading, even if it's just a word or two like 'Cool' or 'Meh', you know? ;)

Josaphina / MelonFox Jozei out!

_**CHAPTER NINETEEN: Heat In Beat**_

It finally felt like things were beginning to come together.

Serah Fythe couldn't think otherwise as she awoke Wednesday morning, for the first time in what felt like months having gotten a good night's rest. No frustrations plagued her, even after her little tantrum at Liz and Kid the night before, though she did know she was going to have to apologise for it. Feeling like a kid waking up on the first morning of Summer Vacation, there was nothing that even sought to burst her happy mood. In fact, everything that had been bothering her just felt like pebbles in the path in comparison to the mountains they felt like up until now.

It was just before six in the morning, the normally grinning sun beginning to wake up now that the moon was starting to pass out again, as they did every morning.

After four hours of Amanda's company talking her through what to expect as a Meister, how resonance works, and even a lot of other things that didn't appear relevant – like how Italy's Gelato was to die for – Serah felt entirely uplifted, which was quite different. They didn't get around to doing any resonating or anything that was a form of practice, and yet it didn't feel like they did nothing at all, either. Hard to put her finger on it, but it was hard to disregard it, too. The only other times she could think of feeling like that was when Stein had paired her up with Tsubaki the day before, and when Lord Death had told her he was giving her a replica set of circlets.

Right now, however, Serah felt like things were working out, at long last.

This change felt like it was for the better, unlike a lot of the changes of late that just proved to addle and frustrate her.

Getting herself organised for classes seemed to fly by way faster than she was used to of late. Before she knew it, she had gotten cleaned up, dressed in her regular clothes of tights, shorts and tank-top with a cerulean jumper for good measure, and she had pulled her hair back in a high ponytail at the back of her head – She caught herself before pulling her hair in a side-tail, consciously acknowledging that doing that was simply asking for another symmetry melt-down to occur.

It was just after six when Serah had gathered her belongings strewn across the room following last night's events, and she had shut the door behind her to head to the Academy.

In Serah's head, it felt appropriate to refer to Amanda's appearance, and the manner of their interactions as tutoring, and before she knew it, she found herself thinking of the four-hours of company as that. She learned some things she missed in classes because of her horrible concentration of late, and new lines and connections were drawn to link what Serah had already learned with the new stuff that was in her head, making everything a lot more concise and coherent to Serah.

Which was a very good thing, considering that there was a lot that hadn't been sitting right in Serah's head to begin with.

Unlike the last allotment of time that Serah had spent with Amanda, it was a lot more comfortable; It wasn't teacher and student, but more equal-level between them.

And unlike the last time, Amanda didn't ask any questions about Serah's classmates or other things about the Academy – She seemed more content with pointless things that were more in like with learning about Serah herself, and vice versa. It was like the woman was interested in learning about Serah now that she wasn't just giving Serah Dancing Lessons.

Pulling the front door of her dwellings closed, Serah cast a glance to her mailbox for just a moment, where the little flag was lifted up, signifying the presence of mail, though she didn't believe there should have been anything in there to begin with.

At least until she stopped to think on it for a few seconds.

She let out a faint breath as she realised that she had left that cursed letter in her mailbox - For whatever reason it was, she didn't exactly want to throw them away without reading them, but she didn't want to read them, either. It was a kind of catch 22 that she was submitting herself to. Of course, if she just let them accumulate in the mailbox, the postman might end up thinking that there's no one home and start returning _all _mail to their senders, and that wasn't necessarily a good thing, either. Serah flipped the catch of her mailbox door so that it fell forward, leaning down to see what else lied in the box other than the letter she really did know was in there.

As she gazed inside, she found herself rather surprised at the contents within.

There was that confounded brightly coloured envelope with heavily looped handwriting, as well as an additional one as well within another variety of bright enveloping, the same handwriting adorning the front of the envelope. But further to that, there was a large, brown parcel that almost shouldn't have fit in there to begin with, but somehow the postman had managed it without damaging the cursed letters - If they had, it would have actually pleased Serah just a little.

Carefully removing the contents of the mailbox, Serah soon lost the sense of displeasure at the unopened letters from Heather, and instead found herself greatly curious about the contents of the parcel.

It was as Serah straightened up and scrutinized it's appearances that she realised that it hadn't come through the post - if anything it was from somewhere within Death City, though there was no sender information, nor was there any markings or stamps that were a tell-tale sign that the parcel had come through the postal service. It was a box about the height and width of one of her hard-cover notebooks, and about ten centimeters thick, wrapped in a neat layer of brown postage paper and tied in place with postage twine. The only markings that adorned the parcel itself was her own name in a peculiar font that she couldn't pick, yet it was hand written, and nothing more.

Either the sender had someone deliver it personally, or the sender had delivered it themselves.

Serah's lip jutted out into a pout ever so slightly at the confusion that was beginning to take place in her mind, however she decided to push it aside for the time being until she got to the academy; She tucked the two letters from Heather into the back of one of her notebooks with little care or consideration, and tucked the parcel carefully into her shoulder-bag along with her books and writing implements. It really didn't matter if there wasn't a sender on the outside of the old-fashioned parcel wrap - She'd soon find out who sent it to her when she saw the contents. And she knew for a fact that it was not sent to her by Heather of all people - The woman would have it sent in the most flamboyant, 'look at me' wrapping she could have found, no matter what the price.

That was just the kind of person the woman was.

Picking up a small bottle of juice, a salmon, lettuce and cheese roll, and a box of sour-jellies for later from her regular deli on the way, Serah snacked on her more spontaneous and less strict breakfast on her way to the Academy, her headphones in place blaring 'Everything You Want' by Vertical Horizon as her feet moved in time with the relaxed beat.

It was part-way through a scroll through her mp3-player that had Serah realise that she may as well get some more music – everything on her player had a play-count between 200 through to 3,000, and it had her note that she listens to her music quite a lot. And it was some kind of modest way of celebrating her good mood.

She didn't fail to notice that she felt her good mood was something to celebrate, but even that didn't frustrate or bother her.

Even the fact that she'd forgotten her glasses today didn't even bother her – She shrugged it off, along with the fact that her eyes were now noticeable to her desk-neighbour and she was going to have to sweet-talk Maka into letting her copy some notes later. And she may as well test the waters – Death The Kid had mentioned that he was going to do his best to refrain from letting his obsession get out of hand again.

Soon enough, even though Serah usually refrained from it, she was humming as she walked, her tint-free vision picking up on a lot around her. The sun was quite strong for 6.30 in the morning, and the sandstone-coloured buildings around her seemed to just make it even stronger still. The plants that were throughout Death City – Trees and flowerbeds alike – were beginning to droop a little from what she could only guess to be a lack of watering. And there were clouds beginning to roll in from the west, heavy based clouds that looked like they contained a lot of rain from the dark, almost blue hue to them over the white balls of fluff that she usually saw in Death City.

The encroaching storm-clouds reminded her of Chicago, oddly enough, or rather of her father's house just city block away from the beach – The clouds were almost the same, heavy from a quick accumulation of evaporated ocean-water, enough so that the colour of the water showed, even in the sky.

After so many years of living on the coast and swimming every day when she was in Chicago, Serah could tell with little thought that there was going to be a fair bit of rain, and by the strange charge that seemed to hang in the air, she was beginning to expect thunder to come with it. She missed the Rain and the Ocean, so the prospect of a thunderstorm just made her feel even happier than when she'd woken up.

Maybe if it was raining after classes, Serah would go for a walk in the rain? She hadn't done that in what felt like years.

There was a faint click as her Mp3 player changed track, and after a few seconds of silence, 'Heat In Beat' arranged by Kouichi Korenaga started to echo through her headphones instead. She found herself quite enjoying the rather rhythm-heavy beat, and realised that she was in the mood for more music like this today than her regular range of vocal tracks.

'Good morning, Serah.' Echoed a voice she faintly recognised all of a sudden, snapping Serah out of her train of thought with little effort; She came to a halt and turned her head to locate where the voice had come from, her free hand pulling her headphones from her ears.

Approaching from one of the streets to her right was Tsubaki of all people, her arms linked behind her back as she walked. She was wearing a small smile, and once again she was without her Meister. Which was in Serah's favor, as she still hadn't figured out how to deal with the Egotistical Brat.

'Hiya Tsubaki - Good Morning!' Serah piped up with a grin.

It appeared that Tsubaki was a little surprised by the energy in Serah today, as she seemed to giggle a little after a moment.

'You must be feeling better, today.' Tsubaki remarked as she came to a stop in front of Serah, causing the peach-haired girl to blink in surprise. 'I don't think I've seen you look so happy, before.'

'It's going to rain.' Serah responded with a smile after a couple of seconds to recover her thoughts; She really wasn't expecting that remark after all, but it didn't really bother her. It was probably true, after all.

'You like rain, huh?' Tsubaki asked, earning a nod from Serah as they both began to continue walking towards the Academy. 'That's kind of surprising.'

'Maybe.' Serah remarked, pausing to take another bite of her breakfast. 'I just miss it.'

'Thats true – It doesn't really rain out here. And when it does, it's almost torrential downpour.' Tsubaki agreed, earning another smile from Serah.

Well, it looked like she'll be able to walk around in the rain after all.

'Where's your Partner, out of curiosity?' Serah couldn't help but ask after a few seconds, earning a rather surprised look from Tsubaki with little effort. She was legitimately curious; Maka was usually with Soul, and so were the other Meisters to their Weapons, and vice versa. But of late Serah hadn't of seen any sign of the irritant in what she believed was a few days.

Of course she never made a point of looking for him, either.

'I'm not sure – Sometimes he just takes off on his own for a day or two.' Tsubaki remarks, though there was an edge to her words that hinted at disappointment – Serah guessed Tsubaki wasn't entirely pleased with Black*Star at that moment.

'Sounds like you've got your hands full when it comes to your Meister.' Seah couldn't help but comment, and she earned a sheepish smile in response.

'It's not all bad – Black*Star's a good guy, he just …'

'Has some bad habits?' Serah offered for the raven-haired weapon.

Tsubaki sighed in response, her shoulders drooping just a little.

'I guess.' She spoke, a little glum, it seemed.

Serah finished off her breakfast before she spoke up again. By this point they were already at the top of the stairs of the Academy.

'He's lucky to have you.' Serah remarked as she scrunched up the wrapper in her hands, glancing at Tsubaki from the corner of her eye. 'You're some kind of miracle saint, or something.'

Tsubaki didn't quite say anything, but her shoulders lifted again, and she was wearing a soft smile.

Serah let out a relieved breath as she tossed the wrapper into her bag for the time being, her now free hands linking to stretch above her head as she looked around once again.

There were various students of the Academy all around – Serah recognised some from class, and vaguely registered that she had glimpsed some of the others before. Oddly enough it was kind of busy, and while Serah was perplexed by it, she didn't place too much thought to it. She'd only just been taking note of the world around her since beginning her tragic attempt at shedding her book-gazing autopilot mode. Who knows, maybe the Academy is often like this on a Wednesday?

Serah glanced upwards at the sky in thought, noticing from the sky that it was a little later than she had intended to get to the academy.

'I wonder if Maka and Soul are here, yet.' Serah wondered out-loud as she walked, looking around as she followed Tsubaki inside to head to their classroom.

'I don't think they left on any jobs, so they're probably in the classroom.' Tsubaki offered as a suggestion, causing a smile to touch Serah's face as she looked up at the raven-haired weapon.

She was still wondering how the hell she had never really spoken to this kind-hearted weapon until yesterday morning – Her subconscious habit of shying away from strangers really was problematic.

A mutual silence had descended over Tsubaki and Serah, however it wasn't uncomfortable; Serah was looking around at the decorative features of the corridor once again, and Tsubaki appeared to have drifted off into thought. Various other students were traversing the same route to their particular classrooms, and much like outside, Serah recognised some of them from their own class. The bald-headed boy with two tufts of brown hair on either side of his head, a girl Serah vaguely knew to be called Jackie, and a couple others, too.

She couldn't see any sigh of Death The Kid, Liz or Patty, even though she was actually keeping an eye out for them. The desire to apologise for her temper tantrum yesterday was still there where she couldn't exactly ignore it, and it was better to get it over and done with sooner rather than later, wasn't it?

There was an odd sight as the two girls reached visible range of their classroom; Serah found herself becoming rather confused, yet pleased to see Soul standing against the wall just next to the door as he seemed to search the traversing students and teachers alike for something – Or rather, someone.

If Soul was here, than Maka was either here already, or he was waiting for her. It pleased Serah greatly to notice this. She wanted to tell Maka all about how her first meeting with her Part-Time Weapon had gone, after all.

'Good Morning, Soul.' Tsubaki called out, catching Soul's attention with little effort. Serah of course smilled and waved as Soul looked in their general direction. However he did not return the gesture.

Instead, Souls eyes zeroed in on Serah, his brow furrowing slightly as he pulled away from the wall and began to approach.

This … was not looking good.

'I-is there something wrong?' Serah couldn't help but ask, a sense of nervousness beginning to overcome her as Soul came to a stop in front of her.

Serah realised that the look he was wearing was a mix of confusion and frustration.

'I'm not sure.' Soul remarked, his brow furrowing just a little more.

Her stomach churned uncomfortably, and something in her was telling her to turn around and leave.

'Then …?' Serah hedged, not sure what was going on. Tsubaki was standing off to the side, watching with a blank look across her face.

'Something's come up, apparently.' Soul remarked, his frustration beginning to give way for the confusion to take a stronger presence over his face. 'Maka's old man came running telling us not to let you inside the classroom – He said it was a message from Lord Death, apparently.'

'S-so … What am I supposed to be doing, then?'

'I dunno, but he made it sound important.' Soul responded, glancing at the classroom door just a few feet away. 'I think it's got something to do with that lady talking with Stein, though.'

Serah's brain zeroed in on the word 'Lady', her sense of foreboding exploding to a screaming chorus of run away, and yet somewhere in the back of her head she found herself disbelieving her stomach altogether. There were millions of ladies in the world, and a few of them of course existed within Death City.

'What Lady?' Serah couldn't help but ask, biting down on the inside of her lip as Soul cast another glance at the classroom door.

'Italian I think. Brunette.' Soul responded, turning his heead to look back at Serah. 'Walked in acting like she owned the place.'

'Did she give a name or anyth-' Serah began, however a sudden exclamation shot through her ears much like she'd just been struck, cutting her off immediately and snatching her attention straight from Soul.

'Serah-Weisse?' The voice questioned, a faint Italian accent echoing in the distinctly familiar voice.

The voice had come from the door of the classroom, belonging to that of a rather neatly dressed woman in a summer dress in navy blue, a white bolero and white sandles. Her long brunette hair hung over her shoulders in neat locks of curls, and her dark eyes were wide with recognition. A great grin spread across her face as she came trotting right over with little care for the students she practically shoved aside just to approach Serah.

Serah's whole body turned rigid and her body instinctively recoiled away from the woman. The churning in her stomach and foreboding sensations had evaporated, and all she was left with was a panic-stricken sense of flight or fight. She didn't need to see the woman's face to know who it was – Just that frustrating addition to her name was enough to tell her who exactly it was.

All that was echoing inside her head was frantic, desperate whimpers of 'Oh no!'.

She was staring at Heather Fythe.

'I knew you were here! Oh Serah-Weisse! I missed you so much!' Heather practically squealed, her arms extended to drag Serah into an embrace.

However she didn't get a chance – Serah's panic settled on flight, and before Heather had even gotten close enough to hug her, Serah's legs threw her into a panic-stricken sprint back down the corridor.

Serah's breath was shallow even before she had started running, the lack of oxygen making her light headed, and the panic that was fueling her escape wasn't helping, either. Her eyes were screwed shut as she ran, her bag knocking painfully against her legs with every step.

And then something occurred, so suddenly that there was no way she could have expected it.

A door suddenly opened right in front of her, and smacked her in the head so hard that her consciousness flickered on her. The deafening 'Thwock' combined with a crash of wood against body and messenger bag resounded throughout both the mostly empty corridor and Serah's ringing ears. A distinct exclamation from a somewhat familiar voice echoed in response to the impact, though she missed all spoken words.

Then with the rebounding motion from the crash, Serah's stunned body hit the floor with enough force to knock her consciousness entirely out of her grip, her messenger bag flying free from her shoulder and scattering belongings across the floor.

Serah's appalling luck had returned to bite her, once again.


	20. In The Town Of Incessant Rain

**[Authors Note]** Hello everyone! I'm back with Chapter Twenty for Down Into My Shadow :D I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and please don't forget to let me know you'r oppinions thus far. Thank you Acid Veins for the lovely review :D I hope I have not disappointed with this installment. And it turns out that some of you have actually missed me :D I must say, thank you very much, and I hope I have time to get another couple of chapters out before my Business really kicks into gear! That's May the 2nd, fyi. In any case, without further ado, here is Chapter Twenty!

Jozei / Melon Fox Jozei out!

_**CHAPTER TWENTY: In The Town Of Incessant Rain**_

_it was Raining in the world inside her head, though she couldn't feel it.  
><em>

_It was Raining in the world outside, too, and yet she could escape it. _

_Lightning crashed in the skies, the rolling of thunder causing tremors to shake the foundations of the empty house. The darkness sunk into the entire interior of the double-storey house built of limestone, it's once been splendor of architectual attraction now a marred, weather-worn shell of it's former glory. _

_The only illumination inside the building itself was of the flashes of lightning from the coastal storms, revealing near-empty rooms and passages inside. _

_The house itself appeared that of an abandoned mansion to outside gazes, in fact, the general opinion of the Fythe Residence was that it had been abandoned, the former Lady of the house having packed up the house and taken her step-daughter with her. They didn't stop to wonder why the expensive house was left to disrepair like it had been; The reports and investigations at the time were more than enough to give all outside gazes a kind of foreboding of it. The old Fythe Residence was once joked to be haunted, however the image has permanently stuck, not from the ill informed hearsay of others, but for the slightest changes that occurred every now and then. _

_The smallest shift in the curtains, the soft hints of a voice in the dark of the night, all manners of small occurrences that would give such an image._

_The Lady of the House was kindly thought of by all those who spoke with her, even moreso to those who had the opportunity to get to know her, despite her rather prominent vanity issues. She was a kind Lady who would always stop to talk if time permitted it, broken by the events of recent past. _

_No one could blame her for the sudden decision to pack up and leave town. In fact, no one could blame her for not saying goodbye, either. _

_At least, no one except for the invisible residence of 2634 Coral Crescent. _

_Her marginally different coloured eyes stared at the veiled window in the Architects Office on the second floor, nestled loosely in the chinz armchair that the prior resident of the room had once sat in whenever he had time to think. The house was left virtually unchanged since her Step-Mother's sudden decision to run away, whether in fruitless effort to keep everything in order for her return, or just out of an inability to let go, no one knew. _

_It had been a long time since she had left the house. She couldn't exactly recall how far back it was, but she knew it had been a very long time. Long enough for her to have forgotten what the outside world looked like, in any case._

_All she knew was that no one was coming back for her anymore._

_About the most she could stomach in doing was the mundane day-to-day tasks when she got sick of reading or just staring off into space. Ever since she cloistered herself within the confines of her Father's house, she had read every book in the house at least twice._

_For whatever reason, the water hadn't been cut off, and the electricity was still running. It made no amount of normal sense, at least until she realised that her Father liked to have the utilities paid in overabundance in case something happened and his family was left without an income. _

_Just like now._

_It was the first time it had rained since her Father had passed away, and the first time since her Step-Mother had run away from her. She used to love the rain so much, but for the first time she could think of, it just made her miserable. _

_'Hello?'_

_The girl turned rigid in her seat as an unfamiliar voice echoed through the storm-touched darkness of the house. She didn't know where the voice had come from, nor had she even expected to hear it. _

_Despite the taught aversion to strangers out of the guise of 'Stranger Danger', her subconscious urged her to rise to her feet, as if the voice was something she didn't want to miss._

_This was the first time in months that it seemed that she had heard another voice, and inwardly she began to hope she wasn't hearing things._

_'Hello? Is anyone home?' Came the voice again, curiously the girl found herself liking the voice. It was bouncy and energetic, and belonged to what she could only assume was a middle aged man, however she couldn't be sure. It also sounded like the voice was … coming from the hallway leading off from the stairs on the lower level of the house._

_Cautiously, her numb feet lead her out of the Architect's Office, through the joining hallway leading to the stairs at the other end of the house. She peered cautiously down the stairs for any sign of whoever it was that was inside the house, but she couldn't see anything. Further to that, she couldn't hear the voice anymore. _

_Yet her curiosity brought her to continue downstairs, as if that made all the difference in the world. _

_There was no one in the house, she was sure of it, and yet she still couldn't understand where that voice had come from. _

_'Ah! There you are!' Echoed the same voice all of a sudden, startling the girl out of her wits. Turning her head frantically from left to right, she tried to locate where the voice had come from, with no luck. It sounded like it had come from right behind her, and yet there was nothing there. _

_'W-where …?' She couldn't help but whisper, tears beginning to prickle her eyes as she struggled to make sense of the situation._

_'I'm over here!' The bouncing voice echoed once again, not the least bit bothered by her lack of understanding, it seemed. It was in this moment where she pin-pointed the location of the voice, and she found herself staring at the mirror propped up against the wall facing the stairs. _

_The mirror showed not the darkness-clad reflection in front of it, nor did it show nothing but darkness, instead the mirror looked more like a window at that second, revealing a sky-blue room with yellow floor, and a figure that was clad entirely in black, disregarding a pair of rather square-shaped hands resembling styrofoam, and a white mask in the shape of a cartoonised skull with three excessively triangular teeth. _

_The form on the other side of the mirror was bouncing rather entertainingly, and it had her begin to wonder if he was doing it on purpose. _

_'Hello, Serah! It's very nice to see you again.' The form greeted her, his bouncing beginning to lessen ever so slightly as she watched hesitantly from the foot of the stairs. _

_She wondered how this person knew her name, even though he implied he had met her before – She knew for a fact that she had never seen this man before. _

_'W-who are you?' She hesitantly asked, her brow creasing ever so slightly as she began to edge towards the mirror despite her brain telling her to stay put. _

_It didn't appear that the man at the mirror was bothered by her question - In fact, he didn't look bothered at all about anything, really._

_'That's a fair question – You were just a baby when Andrew had introduced you to me.' The man remarked, his mask-veiled head tilting a little to the side as he spoke. 'My name is Lord Death, and I'm an old friend of your Fathers. I'm sorry if I scared you - That wasn't my intention.' _

_'M-My daddy?' She spoke, more to herself than anyone else. Her eyes widened as she recalled the rare moments she had seen her Father standing in front of this same mirror, talking as if there was someone on the other side. She had always thought it one of her strange, reoccurring dreams, but at this current moment, she knew that it wasn't. _

_'Where is your Step-Mother? Heather, as I recall Andrew calling her. Is she home right now?' The man called Lord Death asked, interrupting her small epiphany with little effort._

_The prickling of tears returned, far stronger than before, and she shook her head ever so slightly as she hung her head._

_'Then do you know when she'll be back? I need to talk to her about something important.' Lord Death asked._

_'She hasn't been here in months ...' She spoke up, her hands wringing as the tears began to overflow. 'She … ran away ...' _

_There was silence in response, and hesitantly, she lifted her head to look up at Lord Death._

_The Black-Clad form seemed to wear a glare behind the white mask, though she couldn't be sure of it. His bouncing had stopped entirely, and he seemed to be lost in thought._

_'I see. Well, we can't have you all on your own, can we?' Lord Death remarked after an additional few seconds, straightening up slightly as he then pressed the palms of his comically large hands together, and his expression lightened all of a sudden. 'In that case, I'll need you to pack a small bag of clothes and anything else you need for a week's stay – Since your Guardian has clearly made her decision, I think it's high time you get to choose what you want to do from now on.' _

_'S-Sorry?' She repeated, confusion beginning to overrule her other emotions._

_'Think of this as a small holiday – I can't very much leave Death City right now, so I'll send someone to come pick you up, and drop you home when all's said and done.'_

_Stunned, it was all she could do to just nod her head ever so slightly, her tears drying up with the shock._

_'Good, The person I'm sending down to collect you is called Sid. He may look scary, but he's actually a nice guy.' Lord Death responded, lifting his right arm and waving ever so slightly. 'He's a Dark-Skinned man with tattoos down his arms, and dreadlocks. I suggest you get your bag packed in time for tomorrow morning.' _

_'T-Tomorrow morning?!' She squeaked out, her expression flaring with shock._

_'Yes, I believe it'll be about that time when he arrives.' Lord Death responded, nodding his head ever so slightly. 'I also suggest getting a good night sleep, if you can manage it. It's going to be a big week for you starting tomorrow.' _

_'Okay …?' _

_'Until then, stay safe, Serah!' He remarked, and then all of a sudden it seemed, the mirror rippled ever so slightly and then returned to show her own reflection in it's glass surface._

_She stood in silence, staring at the glass as she tried to understand what had just happened._

* * *

><p>When Serah woke up, she didn't know where she was.<p>

When Serah woke up after colliding head-first with an opening door, she was greeted with the immediate sensations of a killer headache. Her head pounded like her skull was about to split open, and she was more than just a little dazed; It felt like her head was spinning, whether by cause of her hyperventilation, the Dream, or the impact, she couldn't tell.

Nor did it really matter all that much.

She found herself at first wincing with closed eyes, her brow furrowing just slightly as she managed to lift a hand to gently touch where the headache was situated in her aching skull.

Instead of skin, she found herself discovering the unfortunate familiarity of cotton over her forehead, and after a few seconds of thought, she remembered what had happened. She'd taken off at top speed, and ran head-first into an open door.

She also remembered who had appeared in the Academy, of all places.

It had been a long time since she had that dream, and even longer still since she had actually met Lord Death in the hallway mirror. It was still as vivid as day to her while she was recalling it, but as soon as it left her mind, she barely even recalled the event at all. It was one of those strange kinds of memories that just hid somewhere in the back of her mind, only coming to light due to a related trigger.

Serah opened her eyes with a faint sigh, only to find herself staring up at a rather unfamiliar ceiling. She also found that she was lying on an unfamiliar bed, and her general surroundings were unfamiliar. All except the huge bookshelf of various books, some of which she recognised immediately as ones that Maka had been reading on occasion.

So … by process of elimination, Serah guessed that she was at Soul and Maka's place at the moment.

After a few seconds of effort, Serah lifted herself upright to take another look around the room, and in the motion, she found that was definitely in Maka's room. There were more items in the room that were of posession to the Meister, and after a few seconds, Serah realised that it would be really weird if she woke up to find herself in Soul's room.

Serah did wonder about the transition between Academy floor and Maka and Soul's place; What had happened in the between time while she was unconscious? Where had her bag ended up? And what had happened once she had managed to knock herself out on the door? She was getting tired of all these missing pieces, but at least this time it wasn't so bad. She didn't want to know if Heather had followed, or the scene that would have ensued afterwards.

Through Serah's silence, she could hear the sounds of voices speaking through the wall. She immediately recognised Maka's voice, and a couple of seconds later, she recognised Soul's voice echo in response. There was an edge to their tones though that hinted at concern, and it brought a sigh to Serah's lips.

Well, she hadn't gotten too much of a chance to keep Maka up to date with everything, so of course the girl was going to be concerned with the situation; She didn't know who Heather was, either.

That was going to be a tough one to explain, especially with the small incident that Soul and Tsubaki were both witness to.

At the thought of explaining Heather to her friends, Serah could only shake her head, displeasure creeping across her face.

She really disliked that woman.

Of course, with the appearance of Heather, Serah resigned herself to having to read those cursed letters after all. The woman was obviously here for a reason, and knowing Serah's Luck, it was going to be a reason she really would abhor. She may as well know what the reason is before coming face-to-face with her again.

The woman was not going to leave without some kind of outcome to what she wanted, and Serah's panic-stricken escape would never count as that – It was just a set-back, and would not be taken seriously.

Deciding that she may as well go and apologise to Maka and Soul for all the trouble, Serah carefully lifted herself from the bed and began to trudge across the room to the door.

The voices outside the room fell silent as Serah opened the door, and she felt eyes fall upon her in immediate response.

'How's the head?' Came Soul's voice all of a sudden, startling Serah with little effort; She flinched, turning her head towards the kitchen where she could see Soul and Maka both seated at the kitchen table. She blinked momentarily, before she began to approach them.

'Sore, but I'll deal.' Serah responded, picking up on the look of concern that showed brightly across Maka's face. Soul just looked like he wasn't feeling much of anything.

The situation was becoming very awkward for Serah, made even worse by the silence that had descended upon the three of them, even as Serah had come to a stop at the table.

'S-so … Do you mind if I ask you something, Serah?' Maka hedged, appearing to throw a glance at the window.

'Shoot.' Serah responded, though she wondered about the glance towards the window.

'You can sit down, you know.' Soul interjected all of a sudden, startling both Serah and Maka with little effort. Serah couldn't help but wonder if anything had happen to annoy the guy, though she didn't question it – She just took up the third seat around the table, a breath escaping her with the motion.

It was a couple of seconds later when Maka had cleared her throat to ask her question.

'Who's that woman that came to the Academy, today?' Maka asked, turning her head to fix Serah with that same concerned look she had been wearing before.

A slow breath escaped Serah as she looked from Maka, to Soul, then to Maka again, searching for the words best to explain.

'Her name's Heather. Unfortunately, I know her from back in Chicago.' Serah responded, her breath hitching ever so slightly at the shift of pressure in her head.

'You mean home, yeah?'

Serah let out a breath at the question, though she did choose to answer.

'Chicago hasn't been home for a very long time.' Serah responded, more to herself than anyone else.

'So … is she really your Mom?' Maka asked, causing Serah to snap her gaze straight back to the Meister.

'What?!' Serah nearly exclaimed, her surprise turning quickly to annoyance. 'She most certainly isn't – Did she introduce herself like that?'

Maka and Soul seemed to share a glance between themselves before Maka answered.

'It was more of a demand to let her see you.' Maka spoke, a somewhat sheepish look creeping across her face. 'She basically accused Stein of helping kidnappers keep her away from her daughter – Obviously she was talking about you.'

Serah's annoyance seemed to flare even more to life, and it appeared that Maka and Soul could tell; Maka seemed to giggle sheepishly, and a sympathetic look crept in place across her face. Soul just looked confused.

'Of course she jumps to the worst choice of words to use.' Serah spoke, her tone hinting at exasperation.

'So if she's not your Mom, then who is she?' Soul cut in, causing both Serah and Maka to look at him. He of course just fixed Serah with a rather exasperated look.

Serah let out another breath to try and regain her hold on her mood.

'She's just some woman who lived with me and Dad for a few years.' She answered, her gaze shifting to the window as she sighed. 'She's not my mother – We're not even related.'

'Then?'

'If you _must _have a technical term for the woman, then Step-Mother would be apropriate.' Serah responded, looking back at Maka and Soul for just a moment. 'I wouldn't even _call _her that, either. Just an acquaintance.'

'So … Your actual Mom?' Maka began, albeit a little uncertainly; Serah returned her gaze back to Maka in response. 'You said that Heather's technically your Step-Mom … so your real Mom and Dad don't get along, either?'

Serah was silent for a few seconds, unsure on whether she should give an answer to that question. She also guessed the "either" was more in reference to how Maka's own parents weren't on civilised terms.

'I mean... Nobody knows anything about you before coming to Death City.' Maka piped up, appearing rather uncomfortable with Serah's silence. 'It was all fine, but I can't help but wonder now that your Step-Mom's here...'

Serah regarded Maka's question for a few seconds longer, before a breath escaped her and she gave in. It would be a nightmare if Heather convinced them of some scenario she'd spout out, all because Serah herself didn't just answer the question.

'It's not anything like that.' Serah responded, her arms lifting to cross loosely over her chest. 'I never consciously met my Mom, to be honest; She died not long after I was born, so it's not like they don't get along, but more like they can't.'

Well, Serah didn't doubt that they were together now, but it wouldn't do her very well to remark on that – That'd open a whole new kettle of fish, and she really didn't want to deal with that right now. And she always abhorred the idea that there might be some time where she'd spill all of her life-story with someone. The idea bothered her greatly, so she always refrained from saying anything if she could help it.

'Oh.' Serah heard Maka deadpan, and immediately the Scythe Meister began to fidget like she was suddenly beginning to panic. 'I'm sorry – I didn't mean –'

'What's there to be sorry about? It's just something that doesn't come up.' Serah remarked, casting a small wry smile at a surprised Maka. 'It's not even like I lost my Mom, I just never had one to begin with.'

Maka nodded her understanding, while Soul just shrugged.

Of course, Serah's earlier curiosity was beginning to rise to the surface again.

'Sooo … I hate to ask such an obvious question, but how did I get here?' Serah chose to ask after a few seconds, earning a sheepish smile from Maka as she rose to her feet – Soul just looked unimpressed, like he was recalling something embarrasing. The look he wore was most likely the one she herself wore whenever the topic of Black*Star came up ever since her first incident with him.

'You mean after Kid nearly killed you with a door, again?' Soul questioned, bringing a sheepish smile to Serah's face.

There were many questions that had suddenly been answered with that one somewhat sarcastic remark from Soul – It was Kid that had once again knocked her out with a door, although this time it was mostly her own fault, and Soul and Maka were both fully aware of the first incident to begin with.

'How … do you know it was Kid?' Serah couldn't help but ask, and in response Soul let out a groan. There was a faint giggle from the fridge, where Maka was in the middle of searching inside for something.

'You've never seen him freak out when he breaks symmetry himself, have you?' Soul remarked, an exasperated frown touching his face.

Oddly enough, Serah couldn't think of any incident where she had seen that kind of emotional crumbling from Kid, and she found herself both perplexed and wary.

'No, I can't say I have.' Serah responded, almost hesitantly.

Another groan escaped Soul, and he looked over at Maka over his shoulder.

'You can explain this one – I'm over it.' Soul remarked, and then he picked himself up out of the chair and walked through the door next to the fridge to his room.

Maka of course threw a frown at Soul's retreating back, though she didn't say anything in response. She instead placed the three glasses of juice she had in her hands onto the table – One in front of Serah and the other two in the middle - and took her seat once again.

'Dare I ask if it's anything like what I've seen?' Serah could help but ask, wondering if she really wanted to know the answer to that one.

"Hmm, well maybe.' Maka thought outloud, taking a sip of her glass of juice as she sat down in the chair opposite Serah. 'Have you ever pointed out to him that there's something unsymmetrical about his appearance? Like Liz does a lot of the time?'

Serah was silent for a few seconds, and about the only thing that occurred to her was when she had made a jab at Death The Kid's Socks.

'I have.' Serah responded, looking up at a sheepish Maka. 'But I didn't exactly witness the reaction that ensued.'

'Oh, right. Socks.' Maka murmured as she nodded her head, and it caused a wry smile to touch Serah's face. 'Well, he kind of starts freaking out, sometimes crying, depending on how bad it is. You've been sitting next to him for months now, surely you've noticed _something.' _

Serah was silent for a few seconds once again, scanning her conscious memory for any kind of incident matching Maka's description. About the only incident that actually popped up was on a written assessment day – They had a test and for some strange reason Death The Kid spent the whole time trying to fix all the letters that were the tiniest bits off, and didn't get around to answering any questions at all.

If Serah remembered correctly, he did spend nearly the whole time crumbling to a nervous wreck because he didn't have a ruler and a curve tool. She didn't exactly see him ruin any symmetry though – She was too busy focusing on her own test and didn't pay much attention to the source of all the sobbing sitting right next to her.

'I think so.' Serah responded after a few seconds, her brow furrowing ever so slightly as she looked back at Maka. 'He's started bawling his eyes out over a written assessment, before.'

'Yeah, you're on the right track.' Maka remarked, her sheepish smile still in place. 'So when you ran off, Soul called me and took off to try and stop you before you broke your neck on the stairs, and I think Tsubaki kind of held your step-mom up to give us some time. I don't know exactly what happened apart from what Soul's told me, but by the time I caught up you were unconscious on the floor, and Liz and Patty were trying really hard to calm Kid down.'

A sigh escaped Serah as she thought on that for a second.

'Please don't tell me he was throwing a fit cause I got blood on him again or something.'

'Not really – It was more like he really thought he'd actually killed you with the door. Apparently the impact was so hard even Patty thought you'd died, and it didn't help that you were bleeding a lot by the time I'd got there.'

Once again, Serah sighed.

'Oh yay, another apology I owe.' Serah grumbled.

Maka gave a small giggle before she continued.

'Well we didn't have much time before your Step-Mom would have caught up, so we grabbed you and came straight here.' Maka spoke, an apologetic smile touching her face. 'We didn't have a chance to grab your bag or anything – Liz said something about bringing it by before we left, though, so I guess that'll be after school.'

'That's cool.' Serah spoke, a breath escaping her as she turned her head to look out the window for a second. 'There wasn't anything all that important in there, I don't think.'

'Oh, good.' Maka breathed out in relief, causing Serah to turn her head right back to look at her.

'Huh?' was about all that Serah had said, earning a momentary look of surprise in return.

'Oh, it's nothing. It's just that I think your bag burst when you hit the door – There were books and photographs everywhere. Even some letters I think – Coloured envelopes or something.'

'Photographs...?' Serah found herself rather perplexed. She didn't have any photographs in her bag – She knew that for a fact – so how could there have been photographs all through the corridor?

Unless … maybe that was what was in the package?

'Umm … Serah?' Maka spoke up, albeit hesitantly, causing Serah to blink in surprise and look back to the Meister.

'Sorry, didn't mean to space out or anything.'

'It's alright.' Maka responded, though concern was beginning to touch her expression once again. 'You did hit your head pretty hard after all.'

'Yeah, I should be used to it by now.' Serah responded with a wry edge to her words.

Maka seemed to watch Serah for a few seconds before she got to her feet once again.

'Well, since it doesn't look like you're going home for a while, I think I'll make some lunch for us.'

Serah blinked in surprise at Maka's remark.

'Eh? Why's that? I can go back to the Academy to grab my stuff, surely?'

'I don't think you'd want to.' Maka responded, casting an apologetic smile at Serah once again.

'And why's that?'

There was a few seconds of silence from Maka, and she glanced once again at the window.

'Well …I'm not exactly sure, but I think your Step-Mom's waiting outside for you.' She explained, earning a startled look with little effort. 'I think Tsubaki managed to hold her up for us, but that doesn't mean that she stopped her.'

Immediately, Serah picked herself up out of her seat, walking briskly to the window overlooking the street as her stomach began to churn on her once again.

It was as she peered down that she recognised the uncomfortably familiar form sitting at one of the benches just down the street. Indeed, as Maka had said, Heather was just sitting there with a book in hand, glancing at the front door to the apartment building every now and then, much like an undercover cop would when tailing someone.

'Son of a bitch.' Serah seethed, venom seeping into her tone of voice as she realised what was going on.


	21. Chou

**[Authors Note]** Hello everyone, Chapter 21 is up, and I apologise for the wait. This chapter took me a while because I couldn't get particular paragraphs to work properly, and yeah, you'll probably get the picture when you read it :) Enjoy guys.

Melon Fox Jozei / Josaphina out!

_**CHAPTER TWENTY ONE: Chou**_

The frustration over the situation at hand was all that Serah could feel. Blinding frustration that had Serah struggle to stop that shout from escaping her.

In fact, she had practically forgotten everything else in the understanding that her Step-Mother was watching the entrace to the Apartment building as she waited for Serah to come outside. It didn't help Serah to recall just how tenacious and stubborn the woman was or even if it began to rain, let alone just how sharp her memory was.

Any marginal _hint _that she didn't remember something was an outright lie; The woman still remembered many events and people from pre-school, even at the age of Forty. If it did start raining, all Heather would do was to the extent of buying an umbrella and sitting on the bench once again.

About the only thing Serah could do was run out of the door, but knowing her luck, she'd fall over. Even if she was lucky and didn't trip, Heather was not only a much faster runner, but she could run in heels as if she was bare-footed. Serah couldn't even run in bare feet without either crashing into something or tripping on thin air!

Serah knew right at this moment that she'd been trapped, and if she were to so much as set foot outside, the woman would have her.

'So … You're staying for lunch, Serah?' Maka's voice cut through Serah's reeling thoughts with great effect.

Serah flinched in surprise, and turned her head towards the blonde meister.

'Sorry?' Serah hedged, her eyes blinking as she saw Maka cast her a small smile.

It was only now that Serah was beginning to notice that there wasn't that very light tint of blue in her vision.

Odd ...

'Are you staying for lunch? Or are you going to brave the outdoors and get your belongings from Kid?' The frown that touched Serah's face in respones to this merely made Maka laugh just a little as she began to search the fridge.

'Sure. Not like I can run away from the woman without killing myself on another door, or anything.' She eventually gave in, lifting a hand to gently rub her eyes as she began to approach the kitchen table once again.

It was in this moment that she noticed the absence of her glasses; She couldn't feel the frames shift from the rubbing of her eyes, and she let out a breath as she realised where they were. Like with her bag, they had probably ended up scattering over the floor. If they hadn't of been rescued along with the rest of her stuff, they were probably stepped on and smashed to pieces by second period.

'Well, we have, bread, salami, cheese …' Maka began to list off as she searched the fridge, causing Serah to look over in curiosity. 'We have some lettuce and chicken too, so how about sandwiches?'

'Can I pass on the meat and cheese?' Serah ashed hopefully.

Maka straightened up to fix Serah with a rather surprised look.

'But that's just leaves lettuce...'

'Sounds perfect.' Serah responded with a small grin.

Maka seemed to stare at her for a few seconds before she began to pull out items to prepare lunch with. While it didn't appear that she'd disregarded the confusion over Serah's words, Maka didn't really ask about it.

At least, not yet, anyway.

Serah had learned that when Maka started to worry, she wasn't going to drop it unless it became too much hassle, or she had an explanation. And it was going to be the latter, because Serah didn't like making a big deal out of it, because she'd rather no attention was brought to it at all.

In fact, Serah found herself deciding that it was better to give Maka that answer before she even asked the bloody question.

'I'm a creature of glutton, if it's bothering you.' Serah offered as an explanation, earning a rather curious look from Maka with little effort.

'Huh?'

She sighed as she resigned herself to just lifting her top and jumper from her stomach in order to pinch the skin, and she then pulled.

Maka seemed to look down at the amount of stretch her skin had in confusion, at least until comprehension overcame her a few seconds later.

'Oh! I get it now.' Maka responded with an apologetic smile.

Of course Serah just let her clothes back to cover her stomach.

'I've put a lot of work into regaining my current build.' She explained as she settled back in the chair she'd been sitting on earlier. 'I'm an emotional eater by nature, and I'm really trying to break that.'

'That really sounds like a pain.' Maka spoke sympathetically.

Of course Serah let out a breath in exasperation.

'You have no idea.' Serah remarked in all honesty.

'Well, you should eat something decent for dinner at least.' Maka spoke up as she began to put together sandwiches, casting Serah a small smile as she worked. 'You lost a lot of blood just from crashing head-first into that door, after all.'

'Noted.' Serah spoke up with a sigh as she reached out for her glass of juice. 'I'll pick up some stuff for stew on the way back.'

'That's if you can leave without your Step-Mom seeing you.' Maka reminded Serah in a kind of taunting jest.

Of course Serah's cheeks puffed out in her tempermental mood, much like a chipmunk.

'Thanks for the reminder.' Serah grumbled, earning a small laugh from Maka.

But of course Maka's words were rather prominent; How the hell was she going to leave the building without the woman spotting her? It wasn't like the woman would listen to Serah if told to go away. She would have thought the way she ran away from the woman just a matter of hours ago was enough of a sign that she didn't want to be anywhere near the woman.

'Here you go.' Maka announced all of a sudden, placing a plate with a lettuce sandwich on the table right in front of Serah. 'One lettuce sandwich.'

'Thanks.' Serah spoke up with a sheepish smile, watching as Maka sat herself down on the other side of the little table. She glanced over at the door that Soul had disappeared behind, before returning her gaze to the sandwich on her plate.

'Sooo, can I ask you a personal question, Serah?' Maka asked after a few seconds, causing Serah to glance up at her as she picked up her lunch.

'Sure, you can ask.' Serah responded as she took a bite of her sandwich. 'But that doesn't mean I'll necessarily answer.' She added after a couple of seconds.

Maka smiled slightly in understanding as she lifted her own sandwich to take a bite.

The silence continued for a few seconds, until Maka had finished her mouthful.

'What kind of person is your Step-Mom?'

A frown touched Serah's face as she considered the question.

'What kind of answer are you actually after?' Serah couldn't help but ask.

'Well, I was just wondering, so any real answer will do.' Maka spoke thoughtfully, pausing to continue eating her sandwich for just a second. 'She seemed to really throw her weight around when she was in the classroom, but then as soon as she saw you she dropped it and started acting like a squealing, adoring Mom.'

Serah let out a faint breath as she continued to eat her lunch and consider what she was going to say in answer.

'Well, I used to really like her.' Serah spoke honestly, her gaze remaining upon the sandwich in her hands as she rearranged her words. 'You know how I said I never had a Mom? Well, Dad and her hooked up when I was like, seven or something. Old enough to know that I don't have a Mom, and this woman was supposed to be some kind of replacement for something I never had to begin with. I don't have any siblings of course, and because of Dad's work, I never really had any friends, but it didn't bother me because I had Dad and all of his work-friends were really nice and played with me whenever they had some spare time, so I wasn't lonely. Heather wasn't much different from them, either – She'd play with me when she saw me at work, and basically was my first friend. I've never seen her as a Mom, to be honest, even when she moved into the house with us – It just made Dad really happy when I'd call her Mom, so I kind of stuck with it and it just became habit after a while. It was just like this really nice, but weird lady who would play video games and sing with me moved in to keep me company; She seemed to spend more time with me than Dad, to be honest with you.'

'Sounds like she was a lot of fun.'

'Yes and no.' Serah responded honestly, glancing up at Maka with a wry smile. 'Really, she acts more like a kid than an adult, which is probably why I never saw any form of adult or substitute-parent in her. She'd eat nothing but sweets if she could get away with it, and she wanted to play more than do anything. She'd even skip out on work if she thought she could get away with it, and she threw a lot of tantrums when things didn't go her way. I think Dad was hoping that Heather would be one of those fun Mom's for me, but it ended up with me having a less-mature friend trapped in an adult's body, instead. It was fun when Heather was in a good mood, though.'

'But you don't like her anymore …?' Maka spoke up curiously.

Serah considered the question for a few seconds, before another breath escaped her.

'I don't dislike her. In actually, I really, really loathe her.'

'O-oh …'

'But I don't hate the her that I knew back in Chicago.' Serah answered as she set the sandwich down on her plate once again. 'I don't even think she remembers what she used to be like – She likes to act and show off so much that I wonder if she's forgotten what it's like to relax a little. Almost like she's terrified of being honest with herself, let alone anyone else. It's just … it all changed her for the worse, and the old Heather's _not _coming back.'

'So … what are you going to do?' Maka asked after a few seconds, causing Serah to look up at her. 'I mean now, what with the fact that she's here in Death City?'

'Dunno, to be honest with you.' Serah responded with a sigh, turning her gaze to the rolling storm-clouds building up outside. 'It's been five years since I've seen her, and it doesn't look like she's aged a bit.'

'That's not what I meant.' Maka spoke up, causing Serah to blink up at her in surprise. 'I get that you don't want to talk to her, but you can't really run away from her again.'

'I ran out of panic, not because I'm wary of her or don't want to talk to her.' Serah spoke with a small sigh as she rubbed her eyes slightly. 'I could do with never speaking to her for the rest of my life, but that's not going to happen anymore. In actuality, if I speak to her, it's not going to be pleasant for anyone to witness.'

'I'm not going to ask what actually happened, even though it's really obvious that something did.' She began as Serah prodded at her lettuce sandwich. 'But you probably should sort this out sooner than later – By the looks of it, she's the stubborn type that will probably follow you everywhere until she gets what she wants.'

'I will speak with her if I must – Just not today. I'm liable to be charged with manslaughter if I do.'

Maka watched Serah for a few seconds in silence, as if thinking on Serah's words.

'Well that's fair – You do need some time to get your mood back in order.' Maka eventually spoke as she went back to eating her sandwich.

'Hey! I feel that concussing myself on a door more than justifies my mood!'

'Sure, sure.' Maka spoke through a mouthful of sandwich, causing a scoff to escape Serah as she decided that her sandwich probably should be put out of it's misery right now. 'You and your accident-prone tendencies, indeed.'

'I heard that!' Serah grumbled, though she did inwardly smile at the knowledge that it was more of a joke than an actual jab.

'Damn, I kinda miss those headphones right now.' Maka prodded with a smirk.

'I bet you do.'

'Damn right – It was kinda fun having an excuse to throw paper at you.'

'You throw paper at me, even if I _don't _have my headphones on.' Serah responded easily, smirking as Maka cast her a sheepish grin.

'Well, yeah …'

A kind of comfortable silence decended between them as they finished their lunch, enough so where Serah had drifted off into thought that was thankfully unrelated to Heather. She wondered if Amanda was going to pop around later in the evening, like she had yesterday? It would be enough to put Serah in a happier mood, no matter whether she ended up getting followed and pestered by Heather or not.

In fact, anything that was unrelated to Heather would put her mood back in order – And that included just going home to bed.

A curteous knock at the door to Maka and Soul's apartment caught Serah's attention, and it appeared that Maka had noticed as well. She turned her head to look at Maka as she lifted herself from the chair, a curious look to her rather warm features.

'Coming!' Maka called out, leaving Serah there to wonder who it could be; She guessed that Liz would come around with her stuff after classes.

'Hiya Maka!' Came an energetic, girlish voice all of a sudden.

'Hey guys. You're here early, aren't you?' Maka's muffled voice echoed in response, however Serah's attention was instead rerouted to Soul as he emerged from his room with a small frown.

The albino male leaned around to look at the door before turning his head to fix Serah with an exasperated smile.

'Bathroom's that way.' Soul spoke as he pointed towards the afformentioned room. 'You _might _want to avoid the symmetry melt-down and clean up.'

Serah blinked at Soul's suggestion, however she did as she was told as she realised _who _was at the door.

The collective term 'Guys' was obviously Liz, Patty and Death The Kid.

Serah shut the bathroom door behind her and flicked on the lights to reveal her reflection, making it immediately evident why Soul had sent her in here – There were lines of dried blood down the right side of her face, and her cerulian blue jumper was unfortunately greatly flecked with drops of dried blood all around the neck and down the right side of the chest. There was also dried blood in the corner of her mouth, too.

Serah realised that the drama over whether she had actually managed to kill herself on the door was not actually all that exadurated, and she felt herself go little pale at the thought.

She really had to thank Soul for giving her the heads up before she went through another of Kid's symmetry-fits.

After arguing with her hair while carefully pulling the jumper off, Serah then made a quick task of cleaning off all the blood so that she could avoid any symmetry-related issues. By the end of it, Serah's head was feeling more than just tender, and she was beginning to feel dizzy again from all of the bending and stretching to clean herself of way more blood than she had thought possible.

'You alright in there, Serah?' Soul asked through the door, causing surprise to flash across Serah's face as she turned to look at the door. 'You've been in there a while.'

'I'm fine – It just hurts if I move too fast.' Serah responded, and after one quick glance over in the mirror, she opened the door to step out. She found after a glance around that he was standing against the wall just next to the door. She then realised that he had been there more or less in case she passed out or slipped and needed help.

'All good?' Soul asked as he turned his head to look at her. For some reason, she found it weird that the guy was talking to her so much.

'Y-yeah. All good.' Serah took to answering quietly, watching as Soul pulled away from the wall and began to head back to the kitchen. Serah wondered if she had said something wrong, but shrugged the thought aside as she began to follow Soul.

'Hey, there you are!' Echoed Liz's voice as soon as Serah had stepped out into the kitchen, causing Serah to look up in surprise. The tall weapon was approaching from next to the fridge, where Maka was standing. 'I'm surprised you're conscious after an impact like that.'

'U-uh … you mean the door, right?' Serah hedged.

Somewhere in Serah's peripheral vision, there was a fidgiting movement subtle enough where she noticed, but didn't turn her head to look. 

'Well yeah, it looked like it really hurt.' Liz responded with a rather sympathetic smile.

Serah wasn't quite sure what to say to that, so she just smiled sheepishly – She didn't trust her own words right now when she was still in a kind of bad mood.

'It was like BANG! Right as Kid opened the door!' Patty exclaimed enthusiastically as she appeared out of nowhere with arms flailing around. 'It was so funny!'

'No, it wasn't.' Liz spoke reproachfully to her sister.

'Yes it was! Did you _see _the look on Kid's face? He looked totally freaked out!'

'Yeah, I think you need to drop it, Patty.' Liz said as she glanced over towards the fidgiting that Serah guessed was Death the Kid. Serah didn't doubt that the topic was bothering the Grim Reaper's son, and she of course couldn't really blame him - the topic was actually beginning to bother her, too.

'Okay!' Patty announced, and wandered off in much the same fashion as she had leapt into the conversation.

Liz seemed to sigh as she leant forwards, motioning with one hand for Serah to come closer for some reason.

Curious, Serah decided to humor the weapon.

'But on that point there, you should know that Kid feels really bad about the whole thing.' Liz spoke quietly into Serah's ear, causing a small shudder to shoot down Serah's spine. 'So try not to hold it against him, okay?'

Perplexed, and somewhat hesitantly, Serah nodded her understanding.

She honestly wasn't going to hold anything against Death The Kid just because he opened a door. The whole incident was in all honestly her own damn fault, and she wasn't about to deny that.

However that didn't mean she wasn't touched by the fact that he felt bad for injuring her.

'What're you two whispering about?' Maka questioned all of a sudden, causing Liz to straighten up and look to the sandy-haired meister as Serah blinked in surprise.

'Nothing all that important.' Liz responded immediately as Maka came to a halt just a couple of feet away from Liz. 'I was just telling Serah about a bit of a rumor I heard going around the Academy today.'

'Oh? What kind of rumor?' Maka asked, seeming thoroghly surprised by the remark.

'Serah?' She heard a voice she vaguely recognised speak up all of a sudden, snapping her attention straight from the exchange between Maka and Liz, and to an approaching form to her right. At the sight of Death The Kid coming to stop just a couple of paces away from her, she realised that he was the one that had spoken her name. She couldn't help but notice that he seemed rather uncomfortable at that moment – Almost uncertain.

'Y-yes?' Serah hedged uncertainly, inwardly worried that she was going to say something stupid.

She did wonder what was up.

'I believe this is yours.' Kid spoke as he held out what looked to be a book to her, causing confusion to overcome her as she hesitantly accepted it.

It was as she looked down at the book that she realised what it was. It was Moondust, the particular book that had gone missing on her the other week.

'Hey – I've been looking everywhere for this!' Serah nearly exclaimed, lifting her gaze to look up at Death the Kid with wide eyes. 'Where did you find it?'

'You dropped it outside Lord Death's room the other week.' Liz interjected helpfully, earning Serah's attention with little effort. 'Remember? When you walked right into Kid outside the door and ran away?'

Serah tilted her head slightly as she wracked her brains for any kind of recollection, however she came up with nothing.

Curse all these prangs to the head! She was realising that there were more missing parts to her memory than she had thought.

'Nothing's coming to mind …' Serah answered as she glanced down at the book, making a point of pretending she didn't notice the concerned looks she was receiving as she then looked back up at Kid. 'But thank you for returning it – This book actually means a lot to me.'

'What book is it?' Maka questioned curiously, leaning over Serah's shoulder to look down at the book in her hands. 'Oh, I've never heard of this author before.'

'I'm not surprised.' Serah answered kindly, a small smile touching her face as she looked up at the Meister. 'She wrote a lot, but her books never took off very well. It was actually very hard to find any of her best work in stores back in Chicago, let alone her other stuff.'

'Really?'

'I have every single book she released though, and all of her incomplete stuff that never got released, too.' Serah added with a smile, turning so that she could look at Maka properly. 'You know the shelf in the front room? Most of the books there were written by her.'

Maka blinked for just a moment, taking to looking down at the book once again.

'Have you met her before?' Liz asked curiously, causing Serah to blink momentarily.

'Huh? What do you mean?' Serah asked out of confusion.

'You talk as if you know her.'

'Umm, I don't really know how to answer that one...' Serah hedged, blinking slowly as she tried to come to grips on the situation.

Meanwhile, Soul had approached and lifted the book out of Serah's grip in order to flick through it out of frustrated curiosity.

'What do you mean? You've either met the Author, or you haven't.' Liz responded rather bluntly.

'Oi, Serah.' Soul piped up with a frown all of a sudden, causing her to turn her gaze onto him as he lowered the book to look at her. 'What's your Mom's name?'

'Wha–?' Serah spoke, snapping her gaze down to her hands as she realised she no longer had the book. A small frown touched her face as she realised what had happened, and took to answering the question. 'Her name's Anabelle-Rose... I mean, you're holding one of her books, Soul.'

'Wait a minute! Your Mom's an Author? Really?' Liz questioned curiously, causing Serah to blink in surprise as she turned to look at her.

What was this? An inquisition? She really wasn't used to all the questions, let alone all the attention she was getting.

Somewhere in Serah's peripheral vision, she saw Maka reach out to lift the book out of Soul's hands curiously.

'Ah, that's right.' Serah answered with a sheepish smile. 'That's actually the last book she wrote, so I'm kind of attached to it.'

A smirk crept across Liz's face as she looked down at the silent Death The Kid still standing next to Serah for just a second.

'Well, she must be a good Author – I don't think I've ever seen Kid read a book from start to finish in one sitting, before.' Liz spoke with a grin, and Serah found herself rather surprised to see Kid turn his head to fix the taller woman with a rather distinct frown.

Wait … what?

'Anyway!' Maka interjected rather forcefully, causing Serah to blink in surprise yet again as she looked to see the girl close the book gently with a rather symathetic smile, as if she'd just figured something out but wasn't going to mention it while there were others in the room. 'I don't suppose you have any idea how you're getting home without being followed, Serah?'

Serah stared at Maka for a few seconds as she tried to figure out who she was talking about.

At least until the words 'being followed' repeated in her head, and a rather sour look took over her expression instead.

'I figured I'd just throw something at her and hope it distracts her – Bonus points if I actually hit her.' Serah grumbled, not the least bit surprised to find that Kid had fixed her with a rather curious look.

Of course Soul shook his head with a grin at that.

'You're not talking about that woman outside, are you?' Liz questioned as she crossed her arms, causing Serah to look at her. 'She's kinda foreign, in a blue dress? She was in the academy earlier, I think.'

From Maka's sheepish laugh and the immediately more sour look across Serah's face, Liz seemed to chuckle slightly.

'Okay, that's her.' Liz said, more to herself than anyone else.

'I suppose you could stay the night if she's still out there.' Maka offered, however Serah didn't quite answer her – Instead she was silent as she thought on that for a few seconds.

'No, that's alright.' Serah eventually spoke as she threw a particularly sour frown over at the window. 'I actually want an excuse to throw something at her.'

'I don't know what's going on, but can I make a suggestion?' Liz piped up all of a sudden, causing Serah to look up at her curiously. 'Since we've gotta walk past your place to get to Kid's, if you don't mind being stuck in your weapon form for a few minutes, I can carry you. You know, since you _are _actuallya weapon.'

'Hey, that's not a bad idea.' Maka remarked with a smile.

Serah contemplated the pros and cons of her 'throw a brick at Heather' idea with Liz's suggestion, and aside from venting just a little anger, it was way better to go with Liz's idea. She was also rather touched that Liz would even offer to bail her out of trouble like that, too. But oh how she really wanted to throw something at Heather!

It appeared Maka was aware of her train of thought with the way that Serah's silence continued, for she gently tapped Serah on the head with the spine of her mother's book, gentle enough where Serah barely even felt the small jolt of pain.

'Enough of the violent thoughts – You know it won't work, anyway.' Maka said, causing a sigh to escape Serah. 'You have nothing but bad lu-'

'Shut up!' She cut Maka off with an indignant retort, feeling somewhat affronted by Maka's blunt reminder of her terrible, terrible luck.

The last thing Serah wanted was for people to start associating her with a bad luck – That would most likely, if not definitely block all changes in her luck from happening at all. And knowing Serah's luck, it would be permanent, if it hadn't been set in stone already.

However from the amused look that Maka was wearing, Serah knew the blonde wasn't the least bit concerned.

'Wait – You're not superstitious are you, Serah?' Liz was the one to ask this time.

To which Soul gave an affirmative nod as Serah continued to glare at the thoroghly amused Maka.

Serah was more than just a little miffed - Maka already knew how she felt about pointing out bad luck, so why the hell was she doing it now?

Oh wait … this was a result of changing the topic from both her Mom and Heather, wasn't it?

God damn it!

Was condemning her to permanent bad luck really worth it?!

'Okay, okay! I remember what happened last time.' Maka finally gave in, though she was still grinning as she held her hands up in surrender. 'I take it back – You actually have very good luck!'

'Stop patronising me!' Serah seethed.

'I'm not.' Maka responded easily, her hands still up in apparent surrender. 'In terms of ending up in accidents and just general ill-events, you have very good luck.'

The agitation that the teasing jab caused was enough for Serah's words to stop working for her, and all she could do was stop herself from either curling up in a corner of the room to sulk, or stomping out of the apartment altogether. If there weren't spectators to this little exchange, Serah really would have just gone with the former by now.

'Uh, Maka? Maybe you should stop now.' Liz spoke up sheepishly as she watched Serah's twitching form. 'I think she's about to crack.'

'She normally would have cracked by now.' Soul remarked somewhere off to the side. 'She _really_ doesn't like her particular kind of luck pointed out to her.'

In response to those words, Serah gave an involuntary twitch.

'I see.' Death The Kid spoke up with an understanding tone, and an equally as understanding nod of the head.

It was almost like he understood why it actually bothered her.

Then all of a sudden, a had-been ubnormally quiet girl popped up right next to Serah with a booming exclamation.

'SERAH HAS REALLY REALLY BAD LUCK!' Patty shouted loud enough for the whole apartment-building to have heard, startling everyone in the room with little effort.

However a strangled cry escaped Serah in response as her composure snapped with a resounding twang in the pit of her stomach, and before anyone realised what had happened, she had dropped to her knees and pressed her hands over her ears with a whimper. Her head was throbbing, her ears ringing, and it was so bad she felt like she was going to cry.

Serah's mind was entirely rerouted straight to the throbbing pain flaring to life, no thanks to that deafening sound. It felt like her skull was about to split entirely in half. So much so that she'd forgotten they were even talking about her bad luck at all.

All she knew was that this knock to the head was far worse than all of the others combined.

'Whoa – She really dropped!'

'Patty! What the hell-?' Someone had begun, however Serah failed to figure out who it was, no thanks to the incessant ringing in her ears.

'Are you alright, Serah?' She heard someone ask her.

It sounded like they'd crouched down in front of her, though she couldn't trust her hearing right at that second.

So Serah managed the smallest of nods as she tried to will away the throbbing that had come to remind her that she had collided with a door today.

There was a small sigh from whoever it was that had crouched down in front of her, and after a few seconds Serah could feel the pain in her head beginning to receed ever so slowly. She could feel the ringing beginning to die down, and finally, she could begin to follow what was going on around her a little more as she slowly opened her eyes.

Even through her swimming gaze, Serah didn't fail to notice the peculiarity of a black-clad form crouched down in front of her. It was enough of a peculiarity that she couldn't help but carefully lower her hands from her ears and lift her head to look up at him.

The sight she was met with had her rather stunned, in spite of the throbbing pain in her head.

In Serah's peripheral vision she could see Liz repremanding Patty a few meters away, while Soul and Maka watched curiously, but she didn't even look in their direction. She was instead kind of stuck looking the piercing gold eyes belonging to Death The Kid, and she couldn't quite understand why.

'I am sorry.' He spoke quietly.

Barely breaking out of her frozen state, it took a couple of seconds for Serah to actually realise what he'd said.

'O-oh …' Serah hedged as she realised he was referring to the door. 'Not at all, it's entirely my fault! I really wouldn't worry about it!'

'You shouldn't be so hard on yourself.' Death The Kid spoke quietly.

'… What do you mean?' Serah couldn't help but ask.

For some strange reason, she saw the look in his eyes soften at her words.

And it surprised her.

'You always seem blame yourself when something's out of your control.'


End file.
